Eddie Hearn acknowledged that rival promoter Top Rank offered Regis Prograis more money to sign with the company that represents many of the opponents Prograis has said he wants to fight.
Ultimately, though, Prograis picked Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, which offered a three-fight deal. The WBC super lightweight champion will make his Matchroom debut on June 17 in his hometown of New Orleans, where Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) will square off against Australia’s Liam Paro (23-0, 14 KOs).
DAZN will stream Prograis-Paro as a main event from Smoothie King Center, home of the NBA’s Pelicans, next month. Prograis’ agreement with Matchroom, which was first reported by BoxingScene.com last week, was officially announced during the DAZN Pay-Per-View broadcast Saturday night that featured Canelo Alvarez’s points victory over John Ryder in Zapopan, Mexico.
“Top Rank offered him more money,” Hearn told IFL TV after Saturday’s show. “It’s been reported, and he wanted to be with us. He wanted to be with me and he wanted to be with the team. And I take that really seriously. Like that shows the level that we’re at here. We can get him active.
“As such, sign the contract, announce the fight in six weeks in New Orleans against Liam Paro, an Australian star, and straight back into action. So, I feel like Regis Prograis is the best 140-pounder in the world, but he’s gotta go out there and clear out the division.”
It is unclear how Prograis will get an opportunity to clear out the division because none of the other three 140-pound champions are promoted by Matchroom or are aligned with DAZN.
Scotland’s Josh Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs), the former fully unified 140-pound champion, is promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank. Taylor, who is the only opponent to beat Prograis in a professional fight, will defend his WBO junior welterweight title against former IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight champ Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 KOs) on June 10 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Lopez and former WBC/WBO 140-pound champ Jose Ramirez (28-1, 18 KOs) also are promoted by Top Rank.
Puerto Rico’s Subriel Matias (19-1, 19 KOs), the IBF junior welterweight champion, is a promotional free agent who has been pursued by Matchroom Boxing. Rolando “Rolly” Romero (14-1, 12 KOs), who is aligned with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, will oppose Venezuela’s Ismael Barroso (24-3-2, 22 KOs) for at least the WBA’s interim 140-pound crown in a “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event Saturday night at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
The Dominican Republic’s Alberto Puello (21-0, 10 KOs) still holds the WBA super lightweight title, but he failed a performance-enhancing drug test last month and was removed from what was supposed to be his first title defense against Romero. Puello, who also is affiliated with PBC, is awaiting the result of his “B” sample, which will determine whether he will be stripped of his WBA belt.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.