American WBC super lightweight champion Regis Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) won the vacant belt in November (preempting compatriot Jose Cepeda) and is now required to make two mandatory defenses in a row.
His rivals are ex-world champions compatriots Jose Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) and Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 KOs). It is possible that both will give up their right. Ramirez had already done it (referring to the fact that he was not satisfied with the offered 35% of the prize fund), and Lopez first promised to take the chance, but then began to look for excuses.
Prograis got acquainted with the updated WBC rating (will appear on our website before the end of the day) and saw that immediately after Lopez, the Spanish spoiler Sandor Martin (40-3, 13 KOs) is in the top 15.
Interestingly, in December, a boxer from Spain gave a competitive fight and lost to Lopez for a thin (simply due to passivity), but at the same time he even dropped the favorite in the 2nd round.
Prograis writes: “Because Ramirez ran away from me, he was downgraded in the ratings. Now it looks like my new mandatory challenger is Teofimo Lopez. Let’s see if he accepts the fight, or if his father said a bunch of bullshit again. And if he refuses, then I will meet the next one on the list – and this is Sandor Martin.
Meanwhile, Jose Ramirez has already decided on his opponent – this is the ex-world champion. At the beginning of the year, Prograis laughed at Lopez, and Broner promised to become an absolute. Told who knocked out first.
Source: https://vringe.com/news/161800-progreys-uzhe-znaet-s-kem-provedyet-zashchitu-titula-esli-ot-boya-otkazhetsya-lopes.htm?rand=141343
