Robert Garcia is certain that Regis Prograis’ last performance was an anomaly.

The veteran trainer out of Riverside, California, thinks the WBC junior welterweight titlist’s fight against Danielito Zorrilla was not indicative of his actual abilities.

What was supposed to be a raucous homecoming at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans turned into a snooze fest, with neither fighter able to mount a consistent offensive rally. In the end, Prograis won by split decision but likely did not impress very many viewers.  

Garcia, who trains former 140-pound titlist Jose Ramirez, thinks Prograis would be bound to lose to any of the top fighters in his weight class if he replicates his efforts against Zorrilla. But Garcia was more than willing to give Prograis the benefit of the doubt, saying how the pressure of fighting in his hometown may have adversely affected his preparation. Garcia has personally seen Prograis in far more impressive form: last year, Prograis stopped one of Garcia’s clients, contender Jose Zepeda, in 11 rounds to win the WBC strap.

“I think that the Regis we seen Saturday, anybody would beat him,” Garcia told ESNews. “He didn’t look too good. I don’t know [why he fought poorly]. I know the way boxing is. What I think is he’s fighting in his hometown. It’s probably the first time fighting in his hometown since he turned pro. [Prograis fought in New Orleans twice in 2018]. Big fight. He’s fighting a guy that nobody thinks really has a chance, late replacement. So he probably got  confident, didn’t train as hard, didn’t diet the way he was supposed to, maybe he cut the weight [until] the last week and got weak. He was tripping so easily. He could’ve gotten sick too. If a fighter gets sick, your legs are gonna get rough on you. He didn’t look very strong.

“I think fighting in his hometown, fighting a late replacement who nobody ever gave a chance to, he thought it was going to be an easy fight and took it lightly and there goes the result. But when he’s in shape, that motherf---er is a beast.”

Asked to gauge how Garcia’s other top 140-pounder, Ramirez, would fare against Prograis, Garcia offered a balanced response.  

“Last Saturday['s version of Prograis,] Jose would’ve stopped him. Last Saturday.

“But Regis, against Jose Ramirez, preparing for a fight in California, Vegas, wherever, he’s gonna prepare himself a lot better. It’ll be a different Regis. It’ll be a Regis we’ve seen against ‘Chon’ Zepeda, we’ve seen against [Josh] Taylor, even though Taylor won, it was very close. That’s the Regis we’ve seen.”

Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing