This weekend lacks one big, premiere fight card, but it does have three cards with relevant fights conveniently spread over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. First, blue chip prospect Regis Prograis returns Friday night on ShoBox against fellow unbeaten prospect Joel Diaz Jr. Saturday Lee Haskins defends his IBF bantamweight title in Northern Ireland against local Ryan Burnett on Sky. Finally, on Sunday, former top fighter Brandon Rios returns on PBC on FS1 against journeyman Aaron Herrera.
Friday’s ShoBox main event is the series living up to its prospect testing mission statement at the absolute highest level. New Orleans native Regis Prograis (19-0, 16 KOs) is one of the premiere prospects in the sport. He has stopped twelve of his last thirteen opponents, including two on ShoBox. He is 3-0 on the series overall. Californian Joel Diaz Jr (23-0, 19 KOs), coming off seven straight stoppages of his own, isn’t as highly hyped as his opponent, but he is a known prospect who is 2-0 on ShoBox. While of course neither fighter has been matched super tough, they both have fought good competition for where they are in their careers.
This is a graduation fight through and through. One of these two will have entered a prospect and left a true contender. Prograis, 28, on paper does have a size advantage here. He has fought his entire career at or above 140 while Diaz, 25, was fighting at 130 until five fights ago. Given that Prograis is also considered to have a talent advantage, he is the clear favorite. That does not mean, however, that this should be a wipe out. This is two serious prospects meeting in the center of the ring. Truths will be learned by all eyes watching.
The show also features unbeaten Canadian middleweight Steve Rolls (15-0, 9 KOs) against underrated, once beaten prospect Desmond Nicholson (17-1-1, 16 KOs) and Sergio Martinez promoted Spanish super featherweight prospect Jon Fernandez (12-0, 10 KOs) against little known Juan Reyes (14-3-3, 2 KOs). Both undercard bouts will be contested over eight rounds.
Saturday’s Lee Haskins (34-3, 14 KOs) title defense against Ryan Burnett (16-0, 9 KOs) is what it is. Lee Haskins is a perfectly good fighter, but his reign as a world titlist does at least speak partially to the weakness of the division as a whole. In this fairly weak division, Ryan Burnett is a fringe top 20 fighter at best. He has held the British belt in the division for a while now and that is basically why he is getting the fight. Well, that and the financials versus probable ease of victory. Burnett doesn’t figure to be much of a risk for Haskins, but boxing can draw well in Northern Ireland. Putting one of their own on potentially winning a world title on home soil is an easy sell.
The undercard may or may not feature the cruiserweight debut of former heavyweight contender Mike Perez (21-2-1, 13 KOs). He had an opponent, but it fell through and the scramble is on. Unbeaten Northern Irish lightweight prospect Paul Hyland Jr (15-0, 5 KOs) will also be in action against Adam Dingsdale (16-3-1, 4 KOs).
Finally, on Sunday, former star Brandon Rios (33-3-1, 24 KOs) returns after a year and a half away following his 2015 one sided loss to Tim Bradley. Here he basically receives a walk over in Aaron Herrera (32-6-1, 21 KOs). Herrera has been easily beaten, usually stopped against anything approaching top competition he has faced. The aforementioned Regis Prograis stopped him in one, for example. Even a notably diminished Brandon Rios will stop him in a few rounds.
In the co-main event, PBC junior welterweight prospect Mario Barrios (18-0, 10 KOs) returns in yet another soft touch against Mexican Jose Luis Rodriguez (21-9, 12 KOs). PBC consistently gives Barrios good television spots like this one, but they also match him notably soft for where he is in his development. Thankfully, the opener is a much more interesting fight. Power punching Mexican prospect Jose Miguel Borrego (12-0, 11 KOs) is being matched really well with once beaten, still promising Kevin Watts (11-1, 4 KOs). Watts’s loss came in his most recent fight against surging prospect Eddie Ramirez. He represents a good test for a 12-0 fighter.
