Notebook: Prograis excited to finally get another world title opportunity

Dubois sues Don King, claiming he was not paid for Bryan fight; purse bid for Santa Cruz-Wood scheduled; Quick hits; Show and tell

Aug 03, 2022

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It was early July and Regis Prograis was beyond ticked off.

The former junior welterweight world titlist could not fathom how with the WBA and WBC belts becoming vacant he was not tabbed to fight for either one of them.

After all, Prograis’ only loss had come by majority decision in a unification fight with Josh Taylor in a terrific battle that could have legitimately gone either way in the October 2019 final of the World Boxing Super Series.

Taylor would go on to unify all four belts and become the undisputed champion with a close decision win over Jose Ramirez 15 months ago. But earlier this summer the WBA and WBC belts became vacant when Taylor decided to pursue a rematch with Jack Catterall, whom he outpointed in a hugely controversial decision in February, rather than agree to a mandatory defense that both organizations had ordered.

That meant there were four slots available in those two titles fights and Prograis expected to be involved in at least one of them.

When he was passed over for both fights, an exasperated Prograis sat in his car and made a video that he posted to social media in which verbalized his intense frustration.

“Ya’ll tell me this — answer me this, right — how is two titles vacant, two fuckin’ titles vacant, and I’m not fighting for either one of them? That shit don’t make sense,” Prograis said. “I was supposed to fight for the WBA and you saw what they did. And the WBC, they got Ramirez and Jose Zepeda fighting each other. … This shit is insane.”

As upset as Prograis was about the situation a month ago, he couldn’t be happier now because when Ramirez gave up his position on Sunday because training camp and a vacant title fight with Zepeda would have interfered with his October wedding plans, Prograis was next up and ordered to face Zepeda for the vacant WBC 140-pound title.

“I'm ecstatic,” Prograis said on Tuesday. “I've waited for this opportunity for a long time. When I was a world champion, and I lost my belt, it was like I fell to the bottom of the pit, and I just clawed my way up and, clawed my way out.

“And now I am back fighting for another title again to become a world champion. I don't do this just to become a world champ. I want to be known as the best in my division.”

Since the close decision loss to Taylor, Prograis (27-1, 23 KOs), 33, a southpaw from New Orleans, has won three fights in a row, all by knockout. Most recently, he stopped Tyrone McKenna in the sixth round of a WBC title eliminator on March 19 in Dubai on a card staged by Probellum, Prograis’ promoter.

“I was a world champion and the No. 1 in the world, so for me it's about getting back to that same spot that I feel like I deserve,” Prograis said. “This is a chance to achieve that.”

Prograis added that he likes the matchup with Zepeda (35-2, 27 KOs), 33, a southpaw from La Puente, California, who will be getting his third title shot following a disputed majority decision loss to Ramirez in 2019 and a second-round stoppage due to a dislocated left shoulder challenging Terry Flanagan for the vacant WBO lightweight title in 2015.

“Both of us have tremendous power in each hand,” Prograis said. “Zepeda has a bunch of crazy knockouts on his record, and I've been knocking people out too, so I've got to be wary of him and his power.

“But I have supreme confidence in myself. Maybe this is a flaw of mine, maybe it's not, but when you tell me I am going to fight somebody, I think I'm going to destroy them, and there is no way this person can beat me. Zepeda is a good fighter, but he has never seen anything like me before.”

Prograis and Zepeda have been ordered to make a deal and if they don’t there is a purse bid scheduled for Aug. 30.

“Regis has been waiting patiently for this opportunity,” Probellum promoter Richard Schaefer said. “Regis is the best 140-pound fighter in the world and I know he will be world champion. And the 140-pound division is one of the hottest and deepest. So many great fights to be made.”

Dubois sues King for non-payment

After England’s Daniel Dubois came to the United States and knocked out Trevor Bryan to win the WBA “regular” heavyweight title on June 11, he left with the belt but without the purse money promoter Don King owed him for the fight, he alleged in lawsuit.

Dubois on Monday night sued Don King Productions in circuit court in Broward County, Florida, alleging breach of contract because King’s company has failed to pay him for the bout, which he won by one-sided fourth-round knockout at the Casino Miami Jai-Alai in Miami.

“The fighter hasn’t gotten paid and when boxers get in the ring and risk their lives the most important obligation of the promoter, the sanctioning body and the commission is to see that they are paid, and that hasn’t been done here,” Leon Margules, Dubois’ attorney, told Big Fight Weekend on Tuesday.

For the details of on the suit and King’s reaction please read the full story I wrote for Big Fight Weekend here: https://bigfightweekend.com/news/daniel-dubois-sues-don-king-for-non-payment-for-ko-of-bryan/

Santa Cruz-Wood purse bid set

The WBA on Tuesday scheduled two purse bids for recent fights it ordered and notified its registered promoters via email that they will take place Aug. 12 via Zoom video conference.

One is for the fight between featherweight “super” titleholder Leo Santa Cruz and “regular” titlist Leigh Wood.

That fight is up first for auction at 10 a.m. Panama time. The minimum bid is $150,000 — though it is expected to go for seven figures — with the split being what the WBA previously announced: 75 percent for Santa Cruz and 25 percent for Wood. Promoters who wish to participate in the bidding must pay a $5,000 fee.

The other fight is the junior welterweight title eliminator between Ohara Davies and Sandor Martin for the right to become the mandatory challenger at 10:40 a.m. Panama time.

The minimum bid is $110,000 with the split 50-50 between the fighters. The fee for a promoter to participate is $7,500.

Representatives for the fighters in both bouts can still make a deal ahead the auction of promotional rights.

Santa Cruz (38-2-1, 19 KOs), 33, of Rosemead, California, against Wood (26-2, 16 KOs) is part of the WBA’s plan to get down to having one world titlist per weight class, a slow process that has been going on since last August.

Alberto Puello and Batyr Akhmedov are scheduled to meet for the vacant WBA junior welterweight title on Aug. 20 (Showtime) with the winner obligated to face Ismael Barroso in a mandatory defense within 90 days. The winner of the fight between Martin (40-2, 13 KOs), 28, a southpaw from Spain, who upset Mikey Garcia by majority decision in a welterweight fight in October, and Davies (23-2, 16 KOs), 30, would become the mandatory challenger after Barroso.

Quick hits

The WBA ordered flyweight titlist Artem Dalakian to next face mandatory challenger David Jimenez and both sides were sent a letter ordering the beginning of negotiations. They were given 30 days to make a deal and if there is not one by end of business Aug. 31 the WBA will order a purse bid. Dalakian (21-0, 15 KOs), 34, of Ukraine, has defended the title five times, most recently by ninth-round knockout of Luis Concepcion in November. Jimenez (12-0, 9 KOs), 30, of Costa Rica, won a majority decision over Ricardo Sandoval in a title eliminator on the Ryan Garcia-Javier Fortuna undercard on July 16 to become the mandatory challenger.

Showtime’s next “ShoBox: The New Generation” card is set for Sept. 9 (9 p.m. ET) at Bally’s in Atlantic City, New Jersey — the same venue that hosted the first “ShoBox” card in July 2001. Promoter Sampson Lewkowicz is putting on a tripleheader headlined by junior welterweight Shinard Bunch (19-1-1, 15 KOs), 23, of Trenton, New Jersey, versus Hugo Alberto Roldan (21-0-1, 7 KOs), 29, of Argentina, in a 10-rounder. There are also two eight-rounders: featherweight Bernard Angelo Torres (16-0, 7 KOs), 26, of Norway, versus Frency Fortunato Saya (13-1, 10 KOs), 24, of the Dominican Republic, and welterweight Janelson Figueroa Bocachica (17-0-1, 11 KOs), 23, of Detroit, against Roiman Villa (23-1, 23 KOs), 29, of Venezuela.

Former bantam titlist Tomoki Kameda (39-3, 21 KOs), 31, of Japan, dropped William Encarnacion (19-4, 15 KOs), 34, of the Dominican Republic, three times in a fourth-round knockout in a featherweight bout on Saturday in Japan. In the third round, Kameda dropped him with a body shots and floored him again moments later under a hail of shots. In the fourth, Kameda dropped him again for a body shot to end the fight.

Show and tell

Thomas Hearns and Aaron Pryor were both all-time great fighters, big punchers, consistently in exciting fights and no-doubt-about-it Hall of Famers. They both won their first world titles against fellow Hall of Famers. Hearns, fighting at Joe Louis Arena in his hometown of Detroit, met Pipino Cuevas, who was making his 12th title defense but could not make it out of the second round as Hearns, 28-0 at the time, authored one of the most sensational knockouts you’ll ever see. After battering Cuevas in the first round, Hearns landed an absolutely crushing right hand, and then another, as he dropped Cuevas face first in the second. A disoriented Cuevas somehow managed to beat the count but he was gone, the fight was stopped and Hearns had won the WBA welterweight title.

Pryor, 24-0 at the time, got to fight at home at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio, when he challenged WBA junior welterweight champion Antonio Cervantes, who was making the seventh defense of his second title reign. The younger, faster, fresher, hungrier Pryor was all over Cervantes from the opening bell, although Cervantes dropped him with a right hand in that first round. The knockdown did not dissuade Pryor from continuing with his relentless attack. He cut Cervantes over the right eye in the third round and eventually cornered him in the fourth and unloaded a series of clean shots, including a brutal right hand, to drop him to his knees for the count.

In fights shown on free TV, but on different networks, Hearns and Pryor both won their first world titles on Aug. 2, 1980 — 42 years ago on Tuesday. Here are two items from my collection: a gorgeous mint program from Hearns-Cuevas, which is absurdly difficult to find in nice shape (if you can find it at all), and a very rare thin cardboard site poster from Pryor-Cervantes.

Prograis photo: Probellum; Dubois photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime; Santa Cruz photo: Ryan Hafey/PBC

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