By: Sean Crose
The vacant WBC junior welterweight belt took place Saturday in Carson, California when former world champion boxer Regis Prograis took on Jose Zepeda in a scheduled 12th round. Pay-per-view main event Fit card, Prograis-Zepeda was previously considered by many to be the pair of two extremely talented and hungry boxers, one very capable of creating fireworks.
The first two rounds are close. In fact, they seem more like a game of chess than the expected showdown between two men who can turn off the lights. Zepeda landed hard the first time. Prograis landed hard the second time around. However, in the third round, Prograis started to land and landed well on his body. Furthermore, Prograis’ aggressive, clumsy style seems to be starting to work for the Houston-based boxer.
The fourth to sixth round is almost a Prograis showcase. Not only did he land, but he also landed very hard. He cut the Zepeda. He snapped Zepeda’s head off as he landed. He didn’t seem to mind when Zepeda’s stabs landed cleanly. When the match came midway, Zepeda looked as if he was just trying to survive.
As the fight progresses in the later rounds, it becomes the structure of a kill. Zepeda seems to be mesmerized by Prograis’s quirky, crab-like style. The man simply couldn’t make anything happen other than land with his stab. And Prograis doesn’t mind getting stabbed. Upon landing on Zepeda, Zepeda’s head jerked back. Simply put, he is superior to his man.
However, in the tenth round, Zepeda really came to life. He rocked Prograis with a left kick. He wasn’t able to take advantage of his moment too much, but Zepeda continued to fight tenaciously and well throughout the round. Indeed, he could have won that chapter. Maybe Prograis realized this, because in season ten he rocked Zepeda a lot. Then he goes in to kill. Putting Zepeda in a difficult position, Progrias continued to knock his opponent almost unconscious until the referee stopped the match and Zepeda collapsed on the carpet.
“I want to congratulate Jose Zepeda,” Prograis said after the game. “This guy is tough, tough, tough.” Prograis later added that it was one of the toughest battles he’s ever been in. “I felt like, just put him in deep water and drown him,” Prograis said.
