WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) took center stage in a thrilling encounter against Danielito Zorrilla (17-2, 13 KOs) this Saturday night at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. In a fight that saw the southpaw Prograis showing flashes of his powerful left hand, he was met with a strong challenge from the underdog Zorrilla.
The fight swung in Prograis’s favor in round three when he landed a looping left hand that knocked Zorrilla down. But the bout remained a chess match, with Zorrilla causing trouble for the champion throughout. In the end, the judges’ scores came in at 118-109 and 117-110 for Prograis, and 114-113 for Zorrilla.
On the undercard, 2016 Olympic silver medalist Shakhram Giyasov (14-0, 9 KOs) defeated Harold Calderon (27-1, 18 KOs) in a dominant twelve-round unanimous decision. Despite Calderon's corner pleading for more aggression, Giyasov's single, powerful shots kept Calderon defensive and hesitant. Despite a lukewarm crowd reaction, Giyasov walked away with scores of 120-108, 118-110, and 116-112.
The night also included knockout artist Julissa Alejandra Guzman (13-2-2, 7 KOs) stopping IBF Inter-continental female super bantamweight champion Ramla Ali (8-1, 2 KOs) in the eighth round. In other bouts, super featherweight Jeremy Hill (19-3, 12 KOs) delivered a highlight reel knockout of Mark Davis (19-2, 14 KOs), Ginny Fuchs (3-0, 1 KO) triumphed over Indeya Smith (6-7-2, 1 KOs), and Xavier Madrid (6-2, 2 KOs) brawled his way to victory over Aaron Aponte (7-1-1, 2 KOs). Lightweight Criztec Bazaldua (2-0, 0 KOs) also took home an easy four-round unanimous decision win over Elroy Fruto (1-2, 0 KOs).
Image Credit: Matchroom Boxing