Regis Prograis says WBA light welterweight belt-holder Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero is the “saddest champion” in the sport.
WBC 140-lb champion Prograis feels that Rolly (15-1,13 KOs) was given a victory he didn’t deserve in his last fight against 40-year-old Ismael Barroso (24-4-1, 22 KOs) last May. The boxing public felt the same way, believing that Rolly didn’t deserve the win.
Rolly was behind on all three scorecards when referee Tony Weeks suddenly jumped in and stopped the contest in the ninth round, giving him the win. Rolando had just thrown a flurry of punches, all of which missed badly, but the referee, Weeks, chose to stop it anyway.
Despite his low opinion about Rolly’s qualifications for being a champion at 140, Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) says he’d be interested in fighting him in a unification after he defends against Devin Haney next month on December 9th on DAZN PPV.
Rolly is one of the PBC fighters who will be without a network after December. It’s still unclear where PBC will wind up, as Showtime will no longer be broadcasting boxing events, apart from two or three Canelo Alvarez PPV fights in 2024.
There are rumors of Al Haymon moving his Premier Boxing Champions stable of fighters to Amazon Prime, but it’s believed that they’re only interested in putting on PPV events. That wouldn’t be good for Rolly Romero because he’s not a PPV-level fighter.
Regis Prograis: “I feel like I’m going to stop him. He’s been hit. People say that Haney is defensive. He’s not defensive. He gets hit with a lot of shots. He’s not like a Floyd or nothing like that,” said Prograis to Showtime Sports about Devin Haney not having the excellent defensive skills some people believe.
“Loma was touching him up. He’s got good skills, but he’s a smaller guy. Linares, the same thing. A smaller guy. JoJo Diaz is a smaller guy. All these guys are small. He’s never been hit by [me]. I’m a real 140-pounder, and I have power in both hands.
“So I definitely feel like I’m going to stop him [Haney] for sure. He’s got all this stuff going on, but I feel like I’m going to stop him.”
Haney was more defensive-minded in his last fight against Vasily Lomachenko last May compared to how he used to fight, but he was still hit quite a bit in that contest.
Against Prograis, Haney will likely be on his bike, moving, jabbing & holding whenever he gets near. It’s believed that Devin will keep the fight on the outside, negating Prograis’ power & inside game.
Brian Custer: “I’ve been reading about the fight, and people have written. They said that the thing that Prograis is going to have to deal with is something that Haney has done in his last couple of fights where he used his jab, used his movement, and then whenever he felt like he was in trouble, he held and grabbed onto his opponents. He did it with Loma, he did it with Kambosos. How do you combat that?”
Prograis: “Listen, we’re working on that, we’re working on everything. No matter what he does, the grabbing & holding, his jab, his right hand, whatever he does, I’m going to shut it down. I’m going to stop him.
“I don’t care who he’s working with. He can try whatever he wants, but I’m going to stop him.”
It’s not going to be easy for Prograis to deal with the tactics that Haney uses in this fight, as he’s going to have to press him hard. The movement that Haney uses will make it nearly impossible for Prograis to get to him unless he moves quickly to cut off the ring.
In Prograis’ last fight against Danielito Zorrilla, he was slow on his feet and unable to get to him to land his shots. Zorrilla doesn’t move as well as Haney, but he was still able to keep Prograis on the outside.
Custer: “Rolly Romero was on IG and said that you’re ugly and used the P-word when referring to you. Do you want to fight Rolly Romero?”
Prograis: “I will fight Rolly. Rolly is the saddest champion in boxing right now. Rolly is the worst champion. I want big fights, but Rolly is a big fight. Listen, if we can fight Rolly, I’ll fight Rolly. He got a belt.
“It’ll be a big fight, but I think Rolly is the saddest champion in boxing right now. I think he’s the worst champion in boxing right now.”
Rolly is currently out with an injury, and he won’t be fighting until the first quarter of 2024, if then. He’s already said that he wants a PPV fight against Ryan Garcia, as that one would make him a bunch of money.
Prograis isn’t a big enough name for Rolly to want to take the risk of fighting him, especially with him hoping for a mega-payday against Ryan.
Custer: “Tell me why, Regis. Why is he the saddest champion in boxing?”
Prograis: “He got his a** dropped by that old a** man [Ismael Barroso]. That man was 60-something years old, and he got his a** whooped by that man. He got dropped, and they gave it to Rolly.
“Come on, bro. I think Rolly is the worst champion right now. I can’t say in history, but of the current champions, Rolly is the saddest champion right now in the whole world. That’s a record, bro. To say that you’re the saddest champion.”
