By Dan Ambrose: WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis has his plan B option with former four-division world champ Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner on standby just in case his complex negotiations with Devin Haney failed to work for their November 11th fight.
Prograis says he’ll fight Broner if he doesn’t face Haney, and then after that, he’ll fight either IBF 140-lb champion Subriel Matias or WBO champ Teofimo Lopez.
Given how Prograis looked in his recent twelve round split decision over Danielito Zorrilla on June 17th in his debut for Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, he’ll lose to both of those guys, possibly by knockout. Progress looked old & shot to pieces.
Using the 34-year-old Broner (35-4-1, 24 KOs) as his secondary option will lead to a massive backlash for the 34-year-old Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) because he’s not ranked in the top 15 by any of the four sanctioning bodies at 140.
Moreover, Broner is considered washed by fans and has been for at least a decade since suffering a bad bearing at the hands of Marcos Maidana in 2013.
The fight took the best part out of Broner, leaving the shell that has since suffered three additional losses and been involved in three fights, which he arguably should have also lost.
Prograis’ mandatory Sandor Martin is supposed to be next. So if the Haney fight doesn’t take place, his promoter will likely push the World Boxing Council for him to get his rightful title shot.
#2 WBC Gary Antuanne Russell (17-0, 17 KOs) is also waiting for his title shot. Russell, 27, is coming off a spectacular first round knockout of Kent Cruz this month on August 12th.
Prograis should do the right thing and give Zorrilla a rematch because that fight was too close for him to walk away from claiming any kind of victory.
Regis complained about the movement from Zorrilla, but the reality is he was timid after being dropped by the Puerto Rican fighter early on and staggered. Prograis fought like he had no confidence in his chin and was glad that Zorrilla was moving around the ring.
Broner was a good well-promoted fighter earlier in his career, winning four division world titles against nondescript opposition before the bottom dropped out.
AB was never a great talent, and that had a lot to do with why his career banked downward after his loss to Maidana in 2013. Broner was an example of what a good promoter can do when they match a fighter against the right opposition.
At 34, Broner has so much from his game and is no longer capable of beating top-tier opposition.
Broner’s wins in the last five years:
- Jovanie Santiago – *controversial
- Bill Hutchinson
- Adrian Granados – *controversial
Regis has a backup plan if he can’t finalize a title fight against Haney 👀 pic.twitter.com/5sMabbzd3e
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) August 28, 2023