Regis Prograis Remains Undefeated by Stopping Abel Ramos

.@RegisP124 dominates Abel Ramos and comes away with the victory after Ramos couldn't return to the ring #ShoBox https://t.co/rGrFAyV4ZG

— SHOWTIME SPORTS (@SHOsports) December 12, 2015

There’s a precociousness in Regis Prograis’ eyes. They seem to radiate confidence and poise, which slightly belies his 26 years. Maybe that explained why he wasn’t too concerned when he stepped in against his last two opponents, who had a combined record of 25-0-3. That is before they faced Prograis.

The southpaw from Houston, Texas, got a chance to show his hometown fans how special he could be, stopping previously undefeated Abel Ramos (14-1-2, 9 KOs) in the eighth round of a scheduled 10-round super lightweight bout on Friday night on Showtime’s ShoBox show, from Bayou Event Center, in Houston.

Prograis (16-0, 13 KOs) appeared in control throughout most of the fight. He doubled Ramos connect output (40 to 20) after the first three rounds. But Ramos showed some inkling of life in the fourth, closing the distance between the two. But by the end of the round, Prograis landed a straight left in the half-minute. Ramos’ left eye was beginning to swell and referee Laurence Cole began taking a closer look at it after the fourth.

With 1:05 left in the fifth, Cole stopped the fight so the ringside doctor could take a look at a cut on Ramos’ left temple and another above his left eye. Cole ruled both cuts were caused by accidental head butts.

Prograis, smelling blood, quite literally, attacked Ramos in the sixth. He was far more aggressive than he was in any of the previous five rounds. The cut above Ramos’ left eye was now creating bigger problems for Ramos. His white trunks wore a reddish hue and his punch output was diminished. By the seventh, Ramos had taken a severe beating. His face looked like it just went through a butcher’s grinder. After the eighth, with Cole looking in closely, and Ramos shaking his head, telling his corner that he couldn’t see out of his left eye, Cole finally waved it over.

The numbers reflected Prograis’ dominance. He landed 218 of 649 (34%) and 78 body shots, while the gutsy Ramos connected on 78 of 381 (20%) and 15 body shots. The biggest gap came in the power shots. Prograis was 174 of 329 (53%) and Ramos was 56 of 200 (28%).

On the undercard, super featherweight Dardan Zenunaj (11-1, 9 KOs) was coming off a 13-month layoff and pulled a mild upset by beating the previously undefeated Bryant “PeeWee” Cruz (16-1, 8 KOs) with a seventh-round stoppage of a scheduled eight-rounder. After three, the more experienced Cruz seemed to have the edge, outlanding Zenunaj, 111 of 359 (31%) to 59 of 232 (25%). But the fourth round changed the course of the fight.

A looping left hand by Zenunaj caught Cruz on the right temple and wobbled him with just under two minutes left in the round. It was one of those deadly punches, the ones you don’t see. A left hook was the exclamation point that felled Cruz. He got up at nine, and managed to last the round. Cruz staved off Zenunaj’s advances with a right and fighting off the ropes. By the end of the fourth, he had regained his legs.

In the fifth, Cruz tried climbing back in the fight, nailing Zenunaj with a couple of uppercuts. He bloodied Zenunaj’s nose and appeared to make it a competitive fight again. Cruz piled on the right uppercuts again in the sixth, hitting Zenunaj three times with the punch.

The seventh started well for Cruz, then Zenunaj poured on a combination in the last 10 seconds of the round. A right uppercut followed by a left dropped Cruz a second time. But Cruz’s trainer, Ronnie Shields, told referee Sam Garza to end it officially at 3:00 of the seventh. All three judges had Zenunaj ahead 67-64 at the time of the stoppage.

This was a case of punch stats being skewed. Zenunaj landed 177 of 555 (32%) total punches, to Cruz’s 237-754 (31%). Zenunaj connected on 42 body punches and Cruz landed 41.

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.