On paper, it was a successful homecoming for Regis Prograis, who defended the WBC super lightweight title for the first time by scoring a 12-round unanimous decision win over late replacement Danielito Zorrilla at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. One judge scored 114-113 for Zorrilla but was overruled by tallies of 118-109 and 117-110 for the champion.
Following an early scare, southpaw Prograis turned up the heat to deck the challenger with a ferocious left in Round 3. From there the fight descended into a track meet that rarely entertained and opinions will vary on who deserved the verdict.
"I was confident that I was going to get the decision," said Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) during his post-fight interview with DAZN. "I got the drop (knockdown) early and I kept pressing the action, but he ran around the whole time. I definitely have to go back to the gym and work on some things."
There was high drama in Round 1 when Prograis went down from a straight right hand that the referee charitably ruled a slip. It wasn’t a slip — it was a knockdown. With his pride hurt, the champion came blazing back and landed powerful shots just before the bell to end that session.
After lulling his opponent to sleep with feints and upper body movement through Round 2, Prograis scored a legitimate left-hand knockdown in the third. It looked worse than it was because Zorrilla rolled all the way onto his neck but the challenger wasn’t seriously hurt.
Regis Prograis punches through Danielito Zorrilla and knocks him down 💥#PrograisZorrilla pic.twitter.com/5B5r7oz5KN
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) June 18, 2023
Outside of these highlight reel moments, the fight was largely devoid of action through the first half. The styles didn’t gel and there was more posturing than punching for long periods. Intermittently, the pro-Prograis crowd registered their disapproval in the form of boos.
Zorrilla, who replaced original opponent Liam Paro, was effective in executing a pickpocket type of fight. But while you could make a strong case for the Puerto Rican puncher edging several rounds, it was highly unlikely that he was going to win a decision that way, particularly in New Orleans. He took chances but not enough of them.
The champion couldn’t break through with anything fight-ending, but he did up the pressure in the final two rounds. This wasn’t the type of electrifying performance that Prograis was looking for – far from it – but the "W" was the priority. In the final analysis, some aggression, and perhaps home advantage, was enough to get him over the line in a close fight.
AND STILL 🥇
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) June 18, 2023
Regis Prograis defeats Danielito Zorrilla via SD and successfully defends his title 💪#PrograisZorrilla pic.twitter.com/8LXJDnadZF
The 140-pound division is wide open right now and Prograis, who was making his Matchroom debut, has made it clear that he wants to clean house. This would involve fights against Teofimo Lopez (unless he has really retired), Subriel Matias, and Rolando Romero.
"They have a lot of great fights [at 140]," said Prograis. "There’s [Devin] Haney. I don’t know what’s going on with Teo. There’s Matias. There’s Rolly, but Rolly is terrible to me… I really don’t want to fight Rolly. There’s Ryan Garcia. We’ll see what’s happening next."
The 29-year-old Zorrilla drops to 17-2 (13 KOs) and he’ll come again.
Regis Prograis vs. Danielito Zorrilla full card results
- Regis Prograis (c) def. Danielito Zorrilla via UD 12 (118-109, 117-110, 113-114); for the WBC super lightweight title
- Shakhram Giyasov def. Harold Calderon via UD 12 (120-108, 118-110, 116-112); welterweights
- Julissa Alejandra Guzman def. Ramla Ali via KO 8 (0:42); super bantamweights
- Jeremy Hill def. Mark Davis via TKO 4 (1:29); lightweights
- Ginny Fuchs def. Indeya Smith via UD 8 (80-72, 79-73, 79-73); super flyweights
- Criztec Bazaldua def. Elroy Fruto via UD 4 (40-36, 40-36, 40-36); lightweights
- Xavier Madrid def. Aaron Aponte via SD 8 (76-75, 76-75, 73-78); super lightweights