Highlights: Prograis takes split decision in awful fight with Zorrilla

Regis Prograis was mired in an ugly battle tonight, winning but failing to put on a thrilling performance.

Regis Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) retained his 140 lb title tonight over Danielito Zorrilla (17-2, 13 KOs) in DAZN’s main event, but it sure didn’t come in the fashion he would’ve hoped. In fact, the outcome of the fight appeared to be in real jeopardy as the judges tallied their scorecards, which ultimately would have Prograis on the winning side of 118-109, 113-114, and 117-110.

Much to the surprise of those who looked at this match up, Zorrilla come in with a clear game plan to play the outside and force Prograis to take all the chances, even if it made for a fight with very little action and clean punching. To that end Zorrilla got exactly what he wanted, and found moments to land clean punches on Prograis and out-tactical him in a number of rounds.

Because the fight was so awkward, it was also one that was difficult to score, as evidenced by the official judges scores. BLH scored the fight 115-112 in favor of Zorrilla, largely based on him effectively implementing his game plan and leaving Prograis looking helpless to consistently get off any offense, barring a flash knockdown he was able to score in the third round.

In the immediate aftermath of the fight Prograis apologized to his hometown fans and admitted that he needs to get right back in the ring to tweak things, fully aware of the difficulty he displayed in this fight. Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn also wasn’t thrilled with Prograis’ performance, but was more upset with the way Zorrilla came to fight give the opportunity he was provided. Either way, Hearn will take Prograis’ win and try to get him into a bigger fight going forward.

Prograis vs Zorrilla highlights

Undercard highlights and results

Shakhram Giyasov UD-12 Harold Calderon

Welterweight Shakhram Giyasov (14-0, 9 KOs) came out on top tonight in a one-sided, rather boring fight against Harold Calderon (27-1, 18 KOs). Giyasov has a bit more pep in his step throughout to go along a better understanding of range, but he went up against Calderon who very early decided to play defense rather than really put himself in any danger. Giyasov at that point could never really take things to the next gear, so settled for a decision on the judges scorecards (120-108, 118-110, 116-112) in an otherwise forgettable fight.

Julissa Alejandra Guzman KO-8 Ramla Ali

In a surprising upset, Ramla Ali (8-1, 2 KOs) had her hype train come to an abrupt halt for the moment as Julissa Alejandra Guzman (13-2-2, 7 KO) found a home for her power shots that served up some real damage. Ali was clearly the superior technical fighter by way of throwing straighter shots, but her defense proved porous and that was a fatal flaw, as Guzman shook her up several times throughout the fight before absolutely crushing her in Round 8 with a left hook.

Jeremy Hill TKO-4 Mark Davis (1:29)

In the televised opener for the main card, lightweight Jeremy Hill (19-3, 12 KOs) overcame a first round ambush from Mark Davis (19-2, 5 KOs) to take control with his height and reach, before ultimately stopping him with a barrage of punches that put Davis down hard in the fourth round. The referee didn’t like the look on Davis’ face when he got up at the count of nine (which was a good call, really) and waved off the fight at the 1:29.