With the World Boxing Super Series? super lightweight tournament set to be announced soon, Regis Prograis will have one more test before joining the eight-man tournament to further build up a potential 2019 showdown against Jose Ramirez.
Prograis, the interim WBC champion at 140 pounds, will not fight Ramirez, the full WBC champion, as many had originally intended, and instead will fight Juan Jose Velasco on July 14 on a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card in New Orleans.
Should Prograis win his fight against Velasco, he will enter the massive tournament set to start later this year. Only the WBSS bantamweight tournament has been announced, but the super lightweight tournament has not been formally announced. The WBSS super lightweight tournament reportedly has signed on WBA champion Kiryl Relikh, Eduard Troyanovski and Ivan Baranchyk and Anthony Yigit, the two boxers scheduled to face each other in the quarterfinals for the vacant IBF title. The winner of the tournament is expected to walk away with the unified WBA, IBF and interim WBC titles.
Prograis won the interim title when he defeated former unified champion Julius Indongo on March 9 and Ramirez won the full world title on March 17 when he scored a unanimous decision win over Amir Imam on ESPN. The WBC had previously ordered Ramirez and Prograis to fight for the full title previously vacated by former undisputed champion Terence Crawford.
The co-main event of the July 14 Top Rank card will have William Silva face off against undefeated prospect Teofimo Lopez, who is coming off a win on the Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Jorge Linares undercard on May 12.