Zepeda vs Prograis on November 26th
Jose Zepeda and Regis Prograis will clash for the vacant WBC super lightweight title on November 26th in a venue to be announced, in a card presented by MarvNation Promotions.
The WBC title fight was ordered by the WBC on July 31, and then sent to a purse bid hearing on August 30. MarvNation, founded and headed by Marvin Rodriguez, emerged as the winner, posting US $2,400,000 to far outpace the rest of the field. Their bid was nearly double that of TGB Promotions’ US $1,200,600 offer as the next highest bidder.
The WBC belt became vacant on July 1, when Scotland’s Josh Taylor (19-0, 13KOs) relinquished the crown in lieu of a mandatory title defense against Zepeda.
Zepeda was originally due to fight with former champion Jose Carlos Ramirez, whose own desire to challenge for a second title reign was affected by the delay in the belt becoming available.
Ramirez faced and defeated former two-division titlist Jose Pedraza in March, taking the fight with the intention of next challenging for the title ahead of his already scheduled October wedding. The timing of the order conflicted with his out-of-ring calendar, with Ramirez agreeing to stand down and face the winner of the next ordered vacant title fight.
Prograis (27-1, 23KOs) previously held the WBA title, claiming the belt in a sixth-round knockout of Kiryl Relilkh in April 2019 during the semifinal round of the World Boxing Super Series 140-pound tournament.
Prograis lost the belt to Taylor via majority decision in their October 2019 WBSS final in London, having since won three straights.
