Regis Prograis, Teofimo Lopez score TKO wins on ESPN

WBC junior welterweight titleholder Regis Prograis extended his undefeated records tonight on ESPN with an 8th round stoppage of Juan Jose Velasco. Prograis (22-0, 17 KO) came out strong, using his hand speed and head movement to close the distance on Velasco, repeatedly tagging him with hard shots to both the head and body.

By the second round Prograis has Velasco in almost full retreat under the immense pressure, but was laregly unable from taking sustained damage to the body. In the 5th round Prograis was able to land a hard left right to the solar plexus of Velasco, putting him down for the first time in the fight. Velasco was able to beat the count but was still visibly hurt as he managed to escape the round.

Soon thereafter, in the 7th round, Prograis would once again put Velasco down with a devastating body shot. And once again Velasco was able to make it to his feet and make it out of the round, but by this time he knew he was done. In between rounds following the 7th there was a bit of a spectacle. Velasco was telling his trainer that he was physically done and wanted out of the fight but Velasco’s trainer didn’t want to hear it. He yelled at Velasco to continue on into the 8th, and Velasco acquiesced, only to promptly get dropped again with a body shot that cause his mouthpiece to fall out.

Velasco would look to his corner and shake his head, seemingly indicating once again that he didn’t want to carry on, but the fight did carry on, and Velasco took some more punishment before Velasco’s trainer finally threw in the towel. It wasn’t a good look, but that’s what happened. And with the win Prograis will enter the World Boxing Super Series’ 140lb tournament starting this fall.

In the co-feature lightweight prospect Teofimo Lopez dominated William Silva over 6 rounds before he too scored a stoppage win. Lopez (10-0, 8 KO) was just too much in there for Silva, displaying why so many are high on him as a prospect. Lopez was cool, calm, and feeling himself in the ring as he blistered Silva with shots all over his body before finally putting him away. And in true Teofimo fashion, he celebrated in style.