Notebook: Prograis ready for Zorrilla, wants new champ Lopez
Donaire title fight set; July 8 Showtime card comes together; Estrada tops Top Rank event; heavyweights Vianello, Kean meet; new date for Nontshinga; Stanionis-Ortiz undercard; Quick hits; Show & tell
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There was a huge change atop the junior welterweight division this past Saturday when Teofimo Lopez rolled past Josh Taylor in an upset decision to win the lineal and WBO titles.
WBC titleholder Regis Prograis was paying close attention as he live tweeted during the bout even as he prepares for the first defense of his second title reign.
He lost the WBA belt to Taylor by extremely close majority decision in a 2019 unification fight. After Taylor became the undisputed champion he eventually vacated or was stripped of three of the belts, including the WBC, which Prograis won by impressive 11th-round knockout of Jose Zepeda in November.
Now Prograis heads into his first defense against big-time underdog Danielito Zorrilla in the main event of his first fight since signing with Matchroom Boxing on Saturday (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET) at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Prograis’ hometown.
Prograis has said repeatedly that he would like to unify titles and face other top fighters in the 140-pound division, but while the subject of a unification bout between Prograis and Lopez has certainly come up since Lopez’s victory, Prograis said he is simply not going to get caught up in the game of looking ahead.
“It’s not hard to focus because when you fight someone that people say is lesser than you, those are the dangerous fights and the hard ones as you don’t know what they have got, and you need to perform against them,” Prograis said this week. “People do pull off upsets.
“I’m not looking past (Zorrilla), but you have in your mind that there’s massive fights out there, but I know that I won’t get to them unless I take care of my business on Saturday. So, until then, I don’t think about anyone else because you might not get there.”
Even if Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs), a 34-year-old southpaw, does beat Zorrilla, making a fight with Lopez would prove extremely difficult. Lopez claims he is now retired, although few give it any legitimacy and chalk it up to post-fight emotion, not to mention he has not vacated the WBO title. Also, he fights for Top Rank on ESPN and Prograis just signed a three-fight deal with Matchroom to box on DAZN.
Still, Prograis does hope that the fight can eventually be made as long he beats Zorrilla (17-1, 13 KOs), 29, of Puerto Rico, who won his only fight since a decision loss to unbeaten contender Arnold Barboza Jr. last July
“There’s pressure on me already as I’m fighting at home in New Orleans. My people are coming to see me and, yes, Teo has done his thing against Josh, so I still feel that I am the best at 140 pounds. But Teo deserves his credit, and I give that to him. So, I must go out and look great and prove I am the best, and then we can get that fight so there will be no doubt.
“You can’t control what people think. Some may say I’m the best (at 140), some will now say Teo, (IBF titlist) Subriel Matias, some might even say (WBA titleholder) Rolly (Romero). I still feel I’m the best. You put me in with Rolly, I beat him. Put me in with Teo, I beat him. Put me in with Matias, I beat him. We can’t prove that until we fight, but that’s how I feel, and the only way to prove it is to fight each other.”
Donaire title shot
Four-division champion Nonito Donaire will get a title shot in the twilight of his Hall of Fame-worthy career.
Donaire will face Alexandro Santiago for the vacant WBC bantamweight title on July 15 at The Cosmopolitan in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas, Showtime announced.
The fight is not unexpected as the WBC ordered it in February soon after Naoya Inoue vacated the undisputed bantamweight title to move up in weight.
Donaire-Santiago will be the co-feature on the card headlined by the Frank Martin-Artem Harutyunyan WBC lightweight title eliminator.
In his last fight in June 2022, Donaire (42-7, 28 KOs), 40, got stopped in the second round by Inoue in a three-belt unification fight that was also a rematch of Inoue’s hard-fought decision over Donaire in the 2019 fight of the year.
Santiago (27-3-5, 14 KOs), 27, of Mexico, has won three fights in a row since a 10-round majority decision loss to Gary Antonio Russell in November 2021. In Santiago’s lone world title opportunity, he fought to a split draw with then-junior bantamweight titlist Jerwin Ancajas in 2018.
July 8 on Showtime
During its recent “ShoBox” card Showtime made its July 8 event official with the announcement of the expected fight between IBF interim welterweight titlist Jaron “Boots” Ennis defending against Roiman Villa in the main event.
The card was initially intended to take place at the Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey, a short ride from Ennis’ hometown Philadelphia, but logistical issues with the venue may force it to move, likely to another venue in Atlantic City or to Philly.
Ennis (30-0, 27 KOs), 25, won the vacant interim 147-pound belt via shutout decision over Karen Chukhadzhian on Jan. 7 on the Gervonta Davis-Hector Luis Garcia Showtime PPV card in Washington, D.C., and will be making his first defense.
Also on that Jan. 7 undercard, Villa (26-1, 24 KOs), 30, of Venezuela, notched his most significant victory in a majority 12-round decision over Rashidi Ellis. The win was Villa’s seventh in a row since a 12-round split decision loss to Marcos Villasana in 2019.
Showtime also announced the co-feature: Edwin De Los Santos (15-1, 14 KOs), 23, a Dominican southpaw, against Joseph Adorno (17-2-2, 14 KOs), 24, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in a 10-round lightweight fight.
De Los Santos is coming off an impressive third-round knockout of then-unbeaten Jose Valenzuela in September on the Andy Ruiz Jr.-Luis Ortiz undercard. Adorno is coming off a 10-round majority decision loss to Elvis Rodriguez on Showtime in February.
The opening bout, which has not been formally announced, will pit prospect Yoelvis Gomez (6-0, 5 KOs), 24, a Cuban southpaw fighting out of Las Vegas, against Houston native Marquis Taylor (14-1-2, 1 KO), 29, in a 10-round junior middleweight fight, a source with knowledge of the lineup told Fight Freaks Unite.
Estrada defends July 28
Unified women’s strawweight titlist Seniesa Estrada (24-0, 9 KOs), 30, of Los Angeles, will make her third defense when she faces Leonela Yudica (19-1-3, 1 KO), 34, of Argentina, a former long-reigning IBF flyweight titleholder, in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card on July 28 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Top Rank announced on Wednesday, confirming a previous Fight Freaks Unite report.
“I am willing to fight any woman in or around my weight class, and I respect Yudica for accepting the challenge,” Estrada said. “My goal is to become the undisputed champion but I can’t achieve that goal without defeating Yudica first. She is standing in my way, and I am coming to Las Vegas to make an emphatic statement.”
In the 10-round junior lightweight co-feature, Andres Cortes (19-0, 10 KOs), 25, of Las Vegas, will face Xavier Martinez (18-1, 12 KOs), 25, of Sacramento.
Among the other fights on the card:
Junior lightweight Abraham Nova (22-1, 15 KOs), 28, of Albany, New York, will face former junior featherweight titlist Jonathan Romero (35-1, 19 KOs), 36, of Colombia, in a 10-rounder.
Junior welterweight Rohan Polanco (9-0, 5 KOs), 24, a 2020 Olympian from the Dominican Republic, will face Cesar Francis (12-1, 7 KOs), 32, a Panama native fighting out of New York, in an eight-rounder.
Lightweight Karlos Balderas (14-1, 12 KOs), 26, a 2016 U.S. Olympian from Santa Maria, California, will face Nahir Albright (15-2, 7 KOs), 27, of Philadelphia, in an eight-rounder.
Heavyweight showdown
Heavyweights Guido Vianello, a 2016 Italian Olympian, and Simon Kean, a 2012 Canadian Olympian, will meet in a 10-rounder on Aug. 19 at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Top Rank and Eye of the Tiger announced on Wednesday.
The fight will be the co-feature on the card headlined by unified light heavyweight champion and Montreal resident Artur Beterbiev defending against British WBC mandatory challenger and former super middleweight champion Callum Smith (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET).
Vianello (10-1-1, 9 KOs), 29, will seek to rebound from his first loss, an upset seventh-round cut-induced knockout to Jonathan Rice on Jan. 14.
“I’m in great shape and looking to avenge the freak accident that ended my fight last time,” Vianello said. “Simon Kean is a big name in Canada, and I’m coming for a knockout. This is my new era. I see only myself in the center of the ring, and any opponent is just stopping me from getting to where I want to be.”
Kean (23-1, 22 KOs), 34, has won eight fights in a row since a fourth-round knockout to Dillon Carman in 2018.
“Vianello is a big contender, the biggest challenge of my career, but I’m there,” Kean said. “I’m training hard, and it paid off in my last fight. I’m a 2.0 version of ‘The Grizzly.’ Nothing has been left to chance in preparation for this fight.”
Nontshinga-Suganob rescheduled
IBF junior flyweight titlist Sivenathi Nontshinga (11-0, 9 KOs), 24, of South Africa — who won the vacant belt by action-packed decision against Hector Flores in September in the 2022 Fight Freaks Unite fight of the year — and mandatory challenger Regie Suganob (13-0, 4 KOs), 25, of the Philippines, have had their fight moved to a new date.
It was supposed to take place on June 16 in East London, South Africa, but now will be on July 2, Rumble Africa Promotions announced.
According to RAP, the reason for the change is because it worked out a broadcast deal for the bout with South African sports giant SuperSport, which wanted it on July 2.
“This exciting development has meant that the date will now change, which allows both parties sufficient time to prepare and promote the fight in South Africa and outside our territories,” RAP chairman Thembalethu Ntutu said in a statement. “We are super excited that this event will now be live on TV and people will have access to it. It’s a massive boost for (South African) boxers, in particular for Sive Nontshinga, who is a classy boxer and deserves to be watched all over the world. We thank SuperSport for this opportunity.”
Nontshinga is also promoted by Matchroom Boxing but it is unclear whether the fight will land on its broadcast partner, DAZN, in countries outside of South Africa.
Listen to our latest podcast episode
Boxing Social appearance
I joined my friends at Boxing Social to discuss various boxing topics, including the Errol Spence Jr.-Terence Crawford kickoff news conference and the big fight; Teofimo Lopez’s huge win over Josh Taylor; the possible future fights for Devin Haney and Shakur Stevenson; and the latest on Canelo Alvarez. Check out the videos here:
Pro Boxing Fans appearance
I joined my friends at Pro Boxing Fans to discuss various boxing topics. The first video covers Teofimo Lopez’s junior welterweight championship win over Josh Taylor, the epic fight of the year candidate between Jaime Munguia and Sergiy Derevyanchenko and the second part focuses on the latest on the proposed big heavyweight fights for the end of the year in Saudi Arabia between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. Check out the videos here:
Quick hits
While the fights have not been announced yet, Fight Freaks Unite has learned the undercard for the Golden Boy show topped by the fight between WBA “regular” welterweight titlist Eimantas Stanionis and Vergil Ortiz Jr. on July 8 (DAZN) at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Austin, Texas, lightweight prospect Floyd Schofield (14-0, 11 KOs) will face Haskell Rhodes (28-4-1, 13 KOs), of Las Vegas, in the 10-round co-feature. Also, lightweight Joseph Diaz Jr. (32-4-1, 15 KOs), of Downey, California, meets a foe to be determined as he seeks to end a three-fight losing streak in his first fight since re-signing with Golden Boy, and WBC/WBA women’s flyweight champion Marlen Esparza (13-1, 1 KO), of Houston, faces WBO titlist Gabriela Alaniz (14-0, 6 KO), of Argentina, in a unification bout.
Zhilei Zhang is slated to defend his WBO interim heavyweight belt against Joe Joyce in a rematch on Sept. 2 at OVO Arena Wembley in London, multiple sources said, although all the details are not yet finalized for the Queensberry Promotions event. The southpaw Zhang (25-1-1, 20 KOs), 40, a China native fighting out of New Jersey, stopped Joyce (15-1, 14 KOs) due to severe swelling around his damaged right eye in the sixth round to claim the belt on April 15 at Copper Box Arena in London. Joyce, 37, of England, exercised his contractual right to an immediate rematch soon after.
Two items of note on the agenda for the Nevada State Athletic Commission monthly meeting on June 20 are a hearing for undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney regarding his hard weigh-in shove of Vasiliy Lomachenko last month and the withholding of a portion of his purse for the infraction and a hearing on a proposed adjudication agreement for Alberto Puello, whose failed drug test for a banned performance-enhancing drug caused him to be dropped from a fight with Rolando Romero and stripped of the WBA junior welterweight title last month.
Hot-shot British junior welterweight prospect Adam Azim has been forced to withdraw from his main event with Aram Fanyan scheduled for Friday at London’s York Hall due to an infection on his left hand caused by cuts on his knuckles, Boxxer announced. However, the card (Sky Sports in U.K., FITE+ in U.S.) will still go on with heavyweight Frazer Clarke (6-0, 5 KOs), 31, a 2020 British Olympic bronze medalist, having his fight with former title challenger Mariusz Wach (37-9, 20 KOs), 43, of Poland, moving up the card to the main event position.
The purse bid for the fight between IBF cruiserweight titlist Jai Opetaia (22-0, 17 KOs), 27, an Australian southpaw, and mandatory challenger Mateusz Masternak (47-5, 31 KOs), 36, of Poland, scheduled for Thursday was canceled Wednesday. According to the IBF, Masternak’s team notified the it that they would not participate and that Masternak was “going in a different direction.” Opetaia has been idle since winning the belt title via unanimous decision from Mairis Briedis last July in Australia in a fight of the year contender that left Opetaia with a broken jaw and a long layoff.
Reyes Boxing Promotions announced it has signed heavyweight Michael Hunter (20-1-2, 14 KOs), 34, of Las Vegas, to a promotional contract. Hunter, a 2012 U.S. Olympian, will have his first bout of the deal against Donnie Palmer in a 10-rounder June 24 at Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts. Hunter’s only loss was via decision to then-cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in 2017. Hunter then moved up to heavyweight and is 8-0-2 since, drawing with former titlist Alexander Povetkin and in a charitable result in his last fight with Jerry Forrest in December 2021.
Per the California State Athletic Commission, these are the official contract purses for the Golden Boy card this past Saturday: Jaime Munguia $750,000, Sergiy Derevyanchenko $400,000 (although both had higher guarantees); Shane Mosley Jr. $65,000, D’Mitrius Ballard $30,000; Mayeli Flores $8,000, Mariana Juarez $15,000; Ricardo Sandoval $30,000, Rocco Santomauro $20,000; Jorge Chavez $4,000, Christian Lorenzo $4,000; Anthony Salvidar $2,000, Jerome Clayton $1,500.
Show and tell
A heavyweight showdown between former champions Mike Tyson and George Foreman in the early 1990s would have been one of the biggest fights in history even without a world title at stake because they were both huge mainstream stars and devastating punchers. There was a ton of talk about this fight being made and that hype reached a fever pitch when they appeared together on an HBO doubleheader co-promoted by rivals Don King, who had Tyson, and Top Rank’s Bob Arum, who handled Foreman, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Tyson was fighting for the first time since losing the undisputed championship to Buster Douglas four months earlier and blew away amateur rival Henry Tillman with an overhand right in the first round of the main event. In the co-feature, Foreman crushed Adilson Rodrigues with a left hook in the second round.
They were two of the most famous heavyweights ever and they were boxing on the same card with King and Arum talking it up as a prelude to an eventual mega showdown. Alas, this was the closest they would ever come to fighting each other. Tyson fought once more on HBO before King took him to Showtime and, three fights later, Foreman unsuccessfully challenged Evander Holyfield for the undisputed title he had taken from Douglas. The Tyson/Foreman doubleheader was fun while it lasted and it took place on June 16, 1990 — 33 years ago on Friday. Here’s the program from the show in my collection.
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Photos: Prograis-Zorrilla and Nontshinga: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing
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I Hope Quigley wins the Fight by UD
Unwinnable Fight for Fundora he should Move on