Following his majority decision defeat at the hands of Josh Taylor in October of 2019, Regis Prograis sulked in disbelief. Although his 140-pound title reign had come to an end, he was seemingly given an endless array of options, none of which particularly appealed to him. While the allure of moving up in weight and trying his hand at 147-pounds was on the table, Prograis was determined to work his way back up from the ground floor.

With three stoppage victories in a row, the 33-year-old has officially been given the opportunity he’s been craving. On November 26th, in Los Angeles, California, Prograis (27-1, 23 KOs) will square off with fellow hard-hitting contender, Jose Zepeda. Though the New Orleans native is widely expected to emerge victoriously, he’s anxious to share the ring with a fighter that he considers, one of the very best.

“It’s killer vs. killer in this fight,” said Prograis during an interview with BoxingScene.com. “You got two killers in the ring, two southpaws and we both got big knockout power.”

Indeed, both Prograis and Zepeda possess game-changing knockout power. In his most recent ring appearance, the 33-year-old contender from Long Beach, California, dished out a one-sided beating to the loquacious and brash Josue Vargas.

In seemingly the blink of an eye, Zepeda (35-2, 27 KOs) blasted his man from the moment the opening bell rang, leaving him practically motionless on the canvas. In addition to his eye-catching knockout against Vargas, Zepeda also waged an all-out war against Ivan Baranchyk in October of 2020.

In their back-and-forth slugfest, Zepeda hit the deck a total of four times but would also send Baranchyk on the seat of his pants on four separate occasions, before scoring the stoppage victory in the fifth.

Having followed his career up close and personal, Prograis admits that he reveres Zepeda like few others. That said, considering the level of opposition he’s faced, Prograis believes that Zepeda is simply ill-equipped to deal with what he’ll bring to the table come fight night.

“I’m whooping Zepeda. I’m whooping him. Oh for sure, I’m whooping Zepeda. Don’t get me wrong he’s explosive, he got knockout punches. But I'm not Josue Vargas, nowhere close. I’m not Ivan Baranchyk. I know he got knockout power and stuff like that but I know he’s never fought nobody like me before.”