Liam Paro Injured, New Opponent Sought For Regis Prograis Title Fight
WBC super lightweight champion Regis Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) recently took to Twitter to announce that Liam Paro (23-0, 14 KOs) had to pull out of their fight due to injury. Despite the setback, efforts are underway to ensure that Prograis headlines a card in New Orleans on June 17. In the same video posted to Twitter, Prograis claims that the replacement could be Arnold Barboza Jr. (28-0, 10 KOs).
Prograis recently signed a deal with Matchroom Boxing that was announced during the Canelo-Ryder card on May 6. It was also confirmed that he would return to headline a card in his hometown on June 17 against Paro. The bout would be his first in Louisiana since a 2019 TKO victory over Kiryl Relikh where he won the WBA title. With Paro injured, negotiations are underway to have Prograis face Barboza Jr. on the same date. Although the potential fight is still being discussed, the two have been going back and forth on Twitter. Whether the bout comes to fruition remains to be seen.
Hear Dan Rafael discussing more about possible Prograis opponents, now that Paro is out by clicking on our “Big Fight Weekend Preview Podcast” below,
Barboza Jr. is currently ranked fourth in the WBC’s rankings. He was last seen in action on the Navarrete-Wilson undercard winning a unanimous decision against Jose Pedraza. Prior to that, he claimed another unanimous decision victory over Danielito Zorrilla in July of last year. He has long demanded a title shot and could receive one should negotiations be successful.
Prograis’ Matchroom Deal
Shortly before signing with Matchroom Boxing, Prograis was also considering an offer from Top Rank. The Top Rank deal was for four fights in which his first bout could have been against Barboza Jr. himself. Instead, Prograis opted for a three-fight Matchroom deal in the hopes that they sign IBF titleholder Subriel Matias (19-1, 19 KOs). Prograis envisions himself unifying against Matias in the third fight of his Matchroom deal before becoming a free agent once again. However, he must first secure an opponent for June 17.
Currently writing out of Toronto, Canada, Saadeq first became a boxing fan while living in Doha, Qatar. Looking to become more involved in the sport, he began writing about boxing and has had work published in outlets such as Seconds Out and Boxing Social. He looks forward to continue covering boxing on Big Fight Weekend.
