Via Jim Calfa: WBC lightweight champion Regis Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) admitted that he overlooked his opponent Danielito Zorrilla (17-2, 13 KOs) on Saturday night as he struggled to beat. him by what many fans felt was the controversial twelfth round split decision at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
In his post-match interview, Prograis, 34, admitted that he was not satisfied with his performance and should have cut the ring better and threw more punches.
Prograis said he thought of all the opportunities he had for big-money games, and he overlooked his 29-year-old Puerto Rican opponent Zorrilla, who came on in place of his replacement. Liam Paro.
Regis knocked Zorrilla down in the third round with a left header but was unable to finish him off. In the first half, Zorrilla surprised Prograis with a free kick, but the referee missed the call.
Scores: 118-109, 117-110 for Prograis and 114-113 for Zorrilla.
“I definitely feel like I won it. I don’t understand how they score him, but I mean, whatever. I don’t think it’s that close, but I know my performance is definitely not good,” Prograis told the media at p.ost-fight press conference after a decisive twelfth round victory over Danielito Zorrilla tonight.
“The opponent comes and just runs around. That’s all,” said Prograis of Zorrilla. “When it happened, I thought, ‘That’s not a knockdown,’ but he hit me with a shot. So it looks like that,” Regis said of being dumped by Zorrilla in the first round. In the ring, it doesn’t look like a takedown at all.
“I have never been injured in a war. I got some stuff on my face, but he never hit me with a ‘This guy hit hard’.
“Sometimes you ignore things. I have so many crazy money making opportunities. Sometimes you look past these competitors. Maybe I did. I have looked at the past. I guess I looked over at Zorrilla.
“Just cut him off more, and I feel like now I can say I should have done it so many times. I did that. I was about to throw a stab, but I should have done my stab instead of just trying to launch the established stab.
“After I dropped him [in round three], I should definitely cut him off more and shoot more shots in the body. Well, I got a little frustrated, for sure. I definitely felt frustrated,” said Prograis when asked if he was frustrated with the way Zorrilla was squeezing.
“Honestly, I didn’t really see how he fell. He got up and I don’t think he’s in big trouble,” Prograis said.
