By Charles Brun: Substitute Danielito Zorrilla is hoping to pull off a massive upset against what many fans view as the #1 fighter in the 140-lb division against WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis this Saturday night on June 17 in their headliner on DAZN at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Lousiana.
The short-notice replacement opponent Zorrilla (17-1, 13 KOs) will need to show a lot more than he did in his loss to contender Arnold Barboza Jr last year because Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) will make easy work of him if h performs like that. The way Zorrilla looked in that fight, he’ll be food for Prograis this Saturday night.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn had hoped to pit Prograis against the talented contender Liam Paro, but he suffered an injury in camp and had to pull out.
Hearn then attempted to get Barboza Jr to step in with Prograis, but he turned down the fight. Unfortunately, for Prograis, that’s been the story of his career. The top guys have never shown interest in fighting him.
When he finally did get an A-list fighter to face him in Josh Taylor, he was arguably robbed in London, losing a controversial decision, and then was denied a rematch.
Aside from Barboza Jr and a washed Pablo Cesar Cano, Zorrilla’s resume is largely barren of names. Zorrilla’s resume has a complete absence of quality opposition once you get beyond his fight against Barboza Jr.
You can’t blame Prograis for already looking past Zorrilla because he wants to become a star and doesn’t have much time left to try and accomplish that. Prograis has already compiled a wishlist for his next fight that he hopes Hearn can deliver for him:
- Adrien Broner
- Subriel Matias
- Teofimo Lopez
- Josh Taylor
- Ryan Garcia
Of those guys, Matias and Taylor are Prograis’ best possibilities because Ryan, Teofimo, and Broner aren’t going to mess with him and get knocked out.
Top Rank promotes John Taylor, and they probably do not want to work with Hearn, especially given the strong chance that Prograis will destroy the empty shell of the played-out, totally shot-looking Scottish fighter.
To say that Taylor has looked over the hill since last year is putting it mildly. He’s nowhere near the guy that Prograis fought in 2019, and Top Rank isn’t going to feed him to Regis and watch him get destroyed.
“Yeah, it’s a big fight on Saturday night. You know I consider him to be one of the best. I’m one of the best also, and we’re going to see what happens, what develops in this fight on Saturday night,” said Danielito Zorrilla to iFL TV about his fight against WBC 140-lb champion Regis Prograis this Saturday night on DAZN in New Orleans.
“I think, like any boxer, you learn from your mistakes, and this is no different. I’ve learned from my mistakes, and you’ll see what I’ve learned,” the 29-year-old Zorrilla said.
“No, I’m not one for giving predictions, and I won’t be doing it. All I know is that I’ll be giving my all on Saturday,” said Zorrilla, who is the underdog for his title challenge against Prograais.
“Yeah, it was a good fight. It was a good fight with two, you know, great boxers facing each other in the 140-pound division, and then in terms of what comes next after this, I’ll continue fighting the best, which is what I’ve always done,” said Zorrilla.
“I’m not sure. My promoters deal with those things, but why not? I’d like to get that rematch,” said Zorrilla when asked if he wants a rematch with Arnold Barboza Jr, who beat him last year by a ten round unanimous decision.
