Regis Prograis retained his WBC super-lightweight title with a points wins over Danielito Zorrilla, but it wasn't a performance that will send fear to his rivals at 140lbs and lightweight.
Fighting in front of his adoring public in New Orleans, Prograis was frustrated throughout but his efforts whilst trying to pin Zorrilla down were noted by the ringside judges who scored 118-109 and 117-110 In Prograis’ favour against a 114-113 verdict for Zorrilla.
In the opening stages of the contest, it looked like Zorrilla had made the perfect start when he floored the champion, but the shot wasn’t recognised by the referee who instead said it was a slip.
Prograis enjoyed the bulk of the opening sessions, including a third-round knockdown, but it was clear that Zorrilla was making him work hard for the few successes he enjoyed.
As the fight wore on, Prograis realised that Zorrilla was here for the full duration and instead of going for the perfect ending, he instead relied on his fitness.
Getting close to Zorrilla and letting his hands go looked the correct approach, and that was enough to give him the nod via split decision.
“There’s Haney, I don’t know what’s going on with Teo, there’s Matias, he has a belt,” said Prograis when asked by DAZN who he’d like to fight next.
“There’s a lot of big fights out there for me so we’ll see what happens next.”
All highlights from tonight's show can be found below.