Regis Prograis would never look past an opponent. But few in the world of men’s professional boxing would blame him for making plans beyond his junior welterweight title defense Saturday in his hometown of New Orleans.

In Prograis’s first fight since he knocked out Jose Zepeda in Los Angeles in November to win the World Boxing Council’s 140lb belt, Danielito Zorrilla stands in his way.

Zorrilla (17-1, 13 KOs) only landed the shot to face Prograis after an injury forced the originally programmed challenger, Liam Paro, to withdraw. He’s entering his second fight since losing a fairly wide unanimous decision last July to Arnold Barboza – who was the Prograis camp’s first choice to replace Paro – and is considered a relatively sizable underdog by the bettors.

All of which has left Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) willing to publicly contemplate things other than the Miguel Cotto-promoted pugilist in the corner across from him as he geared up for the first of three contracted contests for promoter Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing stable.

After a recent workout, Prograis spoke frankly with the Guardian about three fights he covets assuming he takes care of business Saturday: a unification with fellow 140lb strap holder Subriel Matias, a challenge from undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney, or a rematch with the only man who beat him, Josh Taylor, the terms of which he may better control after the Scot lost his lineal and WBO junior welter titles Saturday to Teófimo López.

Matias’s appeal centers on the IBF title he holds, which – if he could wrest it away – would get Prograis one step closer to the division’s undisputed championship. It has the added bonus of drawing interest from fans who want to see two skilled beltholders with knockout-laden resumes compete against each other.

“He has something I want,” Prograis said of Matias. “And that fight would make a lot of money, too.”

However, Prograis acknowledged that the UK-based Hearn has held preliminary talks with Haney’s team. Haney has been openly exploring campaigning at junior welterweight after he outpointed Vasiliy Lomachenko last month to retain the undisputed lightweight championship, and for Prograis, a showdown with him would be as lucrative and competitive – if not moreso – than one with Matias.

Yet Prograis made clear that he has not given up on one day avenging his majority decision defeat to Taylor in London in 2019, in which he lost the WBA belt as well as the chance to claim both Taylor’s IBF strap and the Ring magazine title. Though that night Prograis magnanimously declared that “the best man won”, he’s since reconsidered, arguing that the judges spurned him despite landing 45 more punches than Taylor, outlanding him in seven rounds (including the final two), punching more accurately and throwing more punches.

“I feel like I won the first time,” Prograis said of his fight against Taylor, who went on to beat Jose Ramirez and become the undisputed champion at junior welterweight for a time. “I have to get it back.”

He said he would do everything possible to avoid having that fight in the UK, where the initial excitement about fighting in a boxing-crazed nation so far away from home gave way to gloominess over dreary weather and distance from his family, including his son, whose birthday he had to miss.

“I was really, really miserable,” Prograis said of his extended visit to London. “After the fight, I just didn’t have the same energy – I was just like, ‘Whatever, he won, I’m ready to go home, bro’.”

Prograis’s ability to control where a theoretical Taylor rematch might take place could be easier after the Tartan Tornado’s defeat to Lopez leaves him facing a decision to pursue another title reign in the junior welterweight division or to move up to the welterweight class.

But Prograis knows other factors might influence his ability to have a say about where he might face other potential future opponents that have been cited for him – including López himself, 140lb WBA titleholder Rolly Romero, the comeback-minded Adrien Broner, lightweight star Gervonta Davis, the unsuccessful Davis challenger Ryan Garcia and Jack Catterall, who pushed Taylor to the limit last year before coming out on the wrong end of a decision.

One of the calling cards of Prograis’s career has been a commitment to bring big-time boxing back to New Orleans, where he grew up before Hurricane Katrina in 2005 displaced him to Houston. Prograis’s parents and other loved ones still live in and around New Orleans, whose residents once turned out in droves to support locally-raised world champions such as Pete Herman, Tony Canzoneri, Joe Brown, Ralph Dupas and Willie Pastrano.

But crowds were underwhelming when Prograis, as an established contender, defeated Juan Jose Velasco and Terry Flanagan at the University of New Orleans’s 10,000-seat Lakefront Arena months apart in 2018. The same was true when he went a couple of hours away to Lafayette, Louisiana, the following year to knock Kiryl Relikh out and win the WBA belt that he later lost to Taylor.

Prograis’s four victories since have been in San Antonio, Atlanta, Dubai and Los Angeles. His return to New Orleans sees him in possession of a world title. Yet his challenger is being given little chance and has hardly any mainstream recognition, which could make a strong crowd at the 18,000-seat Smoothie King Center on Saturday a tall order.

Nonetheless, among his promotional ploys this time around has been to go on training runs through New Orleans’s streets alongside local supporters, calling to mind famous scenes from the Rocky and Creed boxing film series.

He wants to give the city to which he’s been steadfastly loyal every chance to help him show that, in addition to being a worthy champion, he’s a ticket seller.

“This is home to me – I feel the most comfortable here,” Prograis said when asked about giving New Orleans another shot to pack the stands for him. “All these people are my people, and I want to be around.”