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Weekend Boxing Round-Up: Regis Prograis And Tim Tszyu Succeed In Contrasting Displays

Written by Tom Eaton on 19th June 2023.

Regis Prograis and Tim Tszyu

This weekend there was world title action in America as Regis Prograis made the first defence of his super-lightweight world title. In Australia, Tim Tszyu made his case for a championship shot of his own, and Frazer Clarke continued his development in England. Boxing Social rounds up the latest action in the sport…

Frazer Clarke-Mariusz Wach

There was one high-profile show on British soil this weekend, as Frazer Clarke (6-0) took on an ageing Mariusz Wach (37-9) in the first ten-rounder of his career. As expected, Clarke used this opportunity to test out his gas tank, outboxing his Polish counterpart to a 100-90 decision and providing him with a solid foundation from which he can push for a clash with Fabio Wardley for a British title.

On the undercard, there were no real surprises, other than the ease at which Aaron McKenna (16-0) disposed of Uisima Lima (10-0), an opponent who was expected to cause him problems, whilst Caroline Dubois (6-0) and Viddal Riley (8-0) extended their undefeated records.

Regis Prograis-Danielito Zorrilla

WBC Super-Lightweight Champion, Regis Prograis (29-1) made his debut under the Matchroom banner in what was expected to be a comfortable night against Danielito Zorrilla (17-1), who was outclassed by Arnold Barboza Jr last year. Fans were anticipating that ‘Rougarou’ would add to his run of four consecutive knockout victories, but he instead found himself entangled in a largely eventless contest that proved difficult to score.

The champion was unofficially dropped for the first time in the first-round of the bout, but was lucky that referee, Ray Corona, ruled it as a push. In the third, Prograis returned the favour, dropping the Puerto-Rican challenger, before a relatively dull second-half of the fight.

The scorecards reflected an unusual match-up, showing a five-round swing amongst the three judges (117-110, 113-114, 118-109), with Zorrilla using the ring to ‘hit and not get hit’, whilst Prograis assumed the role of the aggressor in a strange clash that portrayed the different perspectives when it comes to scoring a fight. Nevertheless, Prograis made a first successful defence of his title, winning the bout by split-decision, but with viewers questioning the decision due to the differing opinions from the judges.

The talking point of the undercard was a vicious knockout from Julissa Alejandra Guzman (12-2-2), who pulled off a shock victory against the previously undefeated Ramla Ali (8-0). The Somalian has previously revealed her intentions to challenge for a world title, but the hype train was brought to an abrupt stop after Guzman landed a formidable left-hook in the eighth-round to bring the scrap to a premature end, after also dropping Ali to the canvas in the fifth.

Tim Tszyu-Carlos Ocampo

In contrast to Prograis, Tim Tszyu (22-0) was expected to be in an arduous fight against Mexican 154lber, Carlos Ocampo (35-2), who hadn’t been knocked out since facing Errol Spence Jr in 2018.

Tszyu dispatched of Ocampo inside of the first round, flying out of the stalls with the clear intent of inflicting punishment on his prey and being willing to ‘take one to land one’. The aggressive Aussie landed a straight-right hand, followed by a left-hook, to wobble the former world title challenger within the first forty-seconds.

Twenty seconds later, ‘The Soul Taker’ scored with another clean right-hand, dropping Ocampo, stamping his authority on the event, before finishing an easy night’s work with a highlight-reel left-hook against his dazed challenger.

The 28-year-old will be hoping that his dominant display will set him up nicely for a showdown with Jermell Charlo later this year, but his fellow countryman, Sam Goodman (14-0) may also be eyeing up a world title after his performance on Saturday night.

The super-bantamweight pulled off the upset against highly-rated American, Ra’eese Aleem (20-0), with a split-decision win, that many felt the Aussie won more comfortably. Due to the victory, Goodman earnt the position of mandatory challenger for Marlon Tapales’ WBO world title, who is poised to face the winner of Fulton-Inoue but may be forced to take on Goodman first.