FIGHT WEEK
Regis Prograis will defend his 140-pound title against Danielito Zorrilla on Saturday in New Orleans Meanwhile, in Australia, Tim Tszyu will return against Carlos Ocampo.
REGIS PROGRAIS (28-1, 24 KOs) vs. DANIELITO ZORRILLA (17-1, 13 KOs)
- Date: Saturday, June 17
- Time: 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans
- TV/Stream: DAZN
- Division: Junior welterweight (140 pounds)
- At stake: Prograis’ WBC title
- Odds: Prograis 10-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Also on the card: Shakhram Giyasov vs. Harold Calderon, welterweights; Justis Huni vs. Andrew Tabiti, heavyweights; Ramla Ali vs. Julissa Alejandra Guzman, junior featherweights
- Prediction: Prograis UD
- Background: The talented Prograis lost his WBA 140-pound belt and considerable momentum to Josh Taylor by a majority decision in a title-unification bout in 2019 but rebounded to win his last four fights, including an 11th-round knockout of Jose Zepeda to win the vacant WBC title in November. The 34-year-old from New Orleans could now be on a collision course with Teofimo Lopez, who outpointed Taylor to take the Scot’s WBO belt. Of course, Prograis must get past the unranked Zorrilla first. The 29-year-old Puerto Rican, a good boxer-puncher, delivered quality victories over Ruslan Madiyev and Pablo Cesar Cano in 2021 but then lost a clear decision to unbeaten Arnold Barboza Jr. last July, stemming his momentum. He bounced back with a first-round knockout of journeyman Aristides Quintero in March.
TIM TSZYU (22-0, 16 KOs) VS. CARLOS OCAMPO (35-2, 23 KOs)
- Date: Saturday, June 17 (Sunday in Australia)
- Time: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Australia
- TV/Stream: Showtime
- Division: Junior middleweight (154 pounds)
- At stake: No major titles
- Odds: Tszyu 6½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Also on the card: Ra’eese Aleem vs. Sam Goodman, junior featherweights; Justin Frost vs. Hassan Hamdan, junior welterweights
- Prediction: Tszyu KO 9
- Background: Tszyu hasn’t had the best stretch of his career. First, his Jan. 28 fight with undisputed 154-pound titleholder Jermell Charlo was postponed after Charlo broke his hand in sparring. And, second, he suffered a dog bite to his right foreman a few weeks ago that required surgery to repair and threatened his meeting with Campo. Things appear to be OK now, though. Tszyu is confident the fight with Charlo will take place in the fall. And he has been cleared to go through with the Ocampo fight. The son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu is coming off impressive back-to-back victories over talented Americans, outpointing Terrell Gausha in March of last year and a ninth-round knockout of former champ Tony Harrison this past March. Ocampo is a solid veteran. However, the Mexican fell flat in his two biggest fight. He was stopped by a body shot against titleholder Errol Spence Jr. in the first round in 2018. The Ensenada fighter then won 12 consecutive fights (all but two in Mexico) to earn a meeting with top contender Sebastian Fundora only to lose a wide decision last October. He last fought on March 25 in Guadalajara, stopping Mauricio Gutierrez Castor in five rounds.
ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK
TUESDAY
- Mizuki Hiruta vs. Casey Morton, junior bantamweights (for Hiruta’s WBO title), Tokyo (no TV in U.S.)
WEDNESDAY
- Katsuma Akitsugi vs. Franklin Gonzalez, junior featherweights, Plant City, Florida (ProBox TV)
FRIDAY
- Sivenathi Nontshinga vs. Regie Suganob, junior flyweights (for Nontshinga’s IBF title), East London, South Africa (no TV in U.S.)
- Nico Hernandez vs. Ernesto Irias, flyweights, Augusta, Georgia (FITE+)