Regis Prograis wants Josh Taylor to beat Teofimo Lopez because Prograis hopes he and Taylor eventually will fight again before Taylor moves up to the welterweight division.

The WBC super lightweight champion considers Lopez’s style one that could trouble Taylor, yet Prograis thinks Taylor will simply be too big and too strong for Lopez in their 12-round fight for Taylor’s WBO junior welterweight title. Scotland’s Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs) and Brooklyn’s Lopez (18-1, 13 KOs) will square off in an intriguing main event ESPN will air June 10 from The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.

“I think Josh Taylor will win,” Prograis told BoxingScene.com. “Physically, he’s just bigger. I think he is stronger. I think Teo does have the style to beat him because he is explosive. He knows how to move and stuff, and Josh Taylor is more stationary. He likes to brawl and bang. But at the same time, I feel like the mental pressure might break Teo down.”

Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) feels the unbeaten Taylor should’ve lost his last fight against Jack Catterall, but the New Orleans native hasn’t been particularly impressed with Lopez since the former unified lightweight champion entered the 140-pound division, either.

“His debut at 140, he fought Pedro Campa and he did what he was supposed to do against a fighter at that level,” Prograis explained. “You know, he looked good against a fighter at that level. But then he fought Sandor Martin and he got dropped. Sandor Martin is a southpaw, but he’s not a big puncher. Josh Taylor, physically, he’s bigger.

“I think a lotta people that’s picking Teo, when they see them kinda stand next to each other, when they do a face-off, you’ll see how much bigger Josh Taylor is physically. And I think that’s gonna play a part in it, too, even with Teo’s mindset.”

Except for one fight, the 5-foot-10 Taylor has boxed at or near the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds since he made his pro debut in July 2015. The Scottish southpaw edged Prograis by majority decision in their 12-round, 140-pound title unification fight three bouts before England’s Catterall (27-1, 13 KOs) dropped and pushed Taylor in a closely contested 12-rounder Taylor debatably won by split decision 15 months ago at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.

The 5-foot-8 Prograis is the same height as Lopez, but Prograis has campaigned as a junior welterweight throughout his 11-year professional career.

The 25-year-old Lopez dropped and stopped Mexico’s Campa (34-3-1, 23 KOs) in the seventh round of his 140-pound debut last August 13 at Resorts World Las Vegas. Lopez suffered a flash knockdown during the second round against Martin (40-3, 13 KOs), but he won a 10-round split decision December 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Prograis, meanwhile, is preparing for his own title defense a week after Taylor opposes Lopez. The strong southpaw will make his first defense of the WBC 140-pound crown against Puerto Rico’s Danielito Zorrilla (17-1, 13 KOs) in a main event DAZN will stream from Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

Zorrilla replaced Liam Paro, Prograis’ original opponent, once Australia’s Paro (23-0, 14 KOs) suffered an undisclosed injury soon after their fight was announced.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.