By: Sean Crose
“It came very quickly,” said Regis Prograis battle center about his upcoming WBC middleweight title defense against Danielito Zorrilla this Saturday. The match, which is taking place at the Smoothie Center in New Orleans, represents a return to his hometown of Prograis, himself a product of the city known as “The Big Easy”. Luckily, the man made sure he was physically prepared for the match that aired on DAZN this weekend. “I’m always in the gym,” he said. “I always practice.”
Indeed, Prograis went to a lot of gyms when preparing for Zorrilla. “We actually started in Houston,” Prograis said. “Then we came here for a few weeks, then back to Houston, and now we’re back here (in the New Orkeans). This match, it was very fast, everything was smooth, and it was very good, a really good camp. Apart from a single close loss to Josh Taylor in 2019, Prograis 28-1 has managed to maintain a perfect record.
Sure enough, Matchroom Boxing expert Eddie Heard was so impressed with Prograis that the Englishman convinced the American to join his stables to fight the boxers. Prograis says: “Eddie naturally has a European-British charm. “Looks like I have more priority here with Matchroom….Eddie actually flew to me (unlike other promotion stores that will have Prograis flying to them).”
If Prograis beats Zorrilla 17-1 as expected on Saturday, a number of big-name opponents, perhaps including the recently retired Teofimo Lopez, could be a fit to claim his title. However, Prograis remained determined to focus on the task at hand. “I don’t want to focus on anyone but myself,” he says (referring to Lopez). “People get lost a lot. At the end of the day, I still have a guy in front of me who wants to take my belt.
Porgrais will especially want to look his best when he will fight in front of the hometown crowd this weekend. Not that he’s worried about it. Opposite. “There is no pressure,” he said. “This is what I like… if I hurt him then I’ll get him out of there but otherwise I can box, I can do my job.” To be sure, in the end it all depends on getting another check in the “Winning Column”. That and entertain his hometown fans. After all, a local hero has a responsibility.
