The last lefty Jose Zepeda was fighting, he promptly destroyed. Zepeda, a left-handed fighter like Vargas, beat Vargas in just 1: After 10 Hulu Theater rounds in the main event of a 10-round fight at Madison Square Garden over 13 months ago using his short, deadly left hand. Vargas stood up, but Zepeda quickly capitalized on his opening and landed a flurry of hard blows that forced Vargas into a corner and gave him the technical knockout victory in the opening round.
As he prepared for Saturday night’s 140-pound 12-round title fight in Carson, California, Regis Prograis, a formidable southpaw in his own right, scarcely saw Zepeda’s excellent victory against Vargas.
Far from being Josue Vargas, Prograis told BoxingScene.com. “I honestly wouldn’t recommend watching. He was halted. That was all—he instantly stopped him. They had an extremely clever scheme, which he immediately thwarted by going outside. Josue Vargas, though, is not close to me at all.
Prograis was viewed as the favorite to defeat Zepeda 4-1 in the contest for the vacant WBC super featherweight title by the majority of handicappers. Josh Taylor of Scotland (19-0, 13 knockouts) announced his retirement earlier this year. At Dignity Health Sports Park (9:00 p.m. ET; 6:00 p.m. PT; $59.99), the fight between No. 1 Zepeda (36-2, 28 KOs, 2 NC) of La Puente, California, and No. 2 Prograis of Katy, Texas (27-1, 23 KOs) will be a paid main event.
Zepeda, 33, was defeated via technical knockout in the second round with a severed shoulder and dropped a 12-round decision to Jose Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs), the WBC champion at 140 pounds at the time. At the time, Terry Flanagan was also unbeaten for the England squad. Prograis, however, was confident that he would be the first warrior to decisively vanquish Zepeda.
Prograis stated, “I just feel superior to him on every level. I wasn’t really concerned with what he brought. The sparring was really successful. I’ve engaged in combat with stronger guys, smaller, faster, and bigger guys. For me, everything has been going nicely. I’m in the Sparring well done section. I’ll be prepared with the solutions regardless of what he brings to the table. I therefore don’t really anticipate much from him.