Regis Prograis feels it’s time to destroy Jack Catterall in their postponed tournament.
Regis Prograis hits his stride during training ahead of his upcoming fight with Jack Catterall in Manchester – Photo by Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Two-time junior welterweight champion Regis Prograis is determined to make another title shot and is ready to upset Jack Catterall on Saturday.
The two, who have different histories, will meet in what promises to be an impressive encounter at the Co-op Live Arena, Manchester, England.
“It was a fight we could have had a long time ago, we were both signed to Probellum (who is no longer active) at the time and I remember him saying he wanted to fight me and I thought we would do it, but. it never happened,” Prograis (29-2, 24 knockouts) told The Ring. “Now is the right time. This is the biggest fight you can do at 140 without the belts on the line, so I think it’s the right time for him and I to finally fight.
Although Prograis, who is ranked number 8 by The Ring at junior welterweight, was initially not happy about leaving his home to face Catterall but eventually decided to take the opportunity, which is his first fight since losing the WBC title to Devin Haney last December. .
“Matchroom told me, ‘That’s all you have, that’s all.’ it doesn’t matter where the war is fought.”
They were assigned to meet on August 28. However, Brit was injured and the fight was postponed.
“I was fine, the thing that was bothering me was that I didn’t get the money for the camp from Matchroom,” he said. “I went to Las Vegas and everything came out of my pocket, it wasn’t that much money but at the same time I was doing all those things by myself.
Regis Prograis talks to Showtime’s Steve Farhood after winning the interim WBC 140-pound title. Photo by Stephanie Trapp-Showtime
“I went out to Las Vegas, I practiced, I stayed for about a month. Then they told me it was canceled and then they told me it would be postponed. I took it with my foot, as long as we can fight that’s cool. I cut training camp, took a little break and got back into it when I needed to.”
Prograis, who previously held the WBA 140-pound title before losing the World Boxing Super Series final to Josh Taylor (MD 12), also won the vacant WBC 140-pound title. title stopping Jose Zepeda (KO 11) but then worked hard to beat Danielto Zorrilla (SD 12) in his first defense which doubled as a homecoming in June 2023.
Headed to San Francisco and was surprisingly dealt by Devin Haney (UD 12) last December.
“It wasn’t just me, I think Devin is a good fighter, I don’t want to make excuses, I had a bad night or my career and he was the best,” said Prograis. “The sad thing about boxing is that it’s not like other sports, sometimes in basketball and football, you can have off-nights and go play the next week and have a good night, but in boxing you can have an off-night and you might not fight, like me, for 10 months.”
The wait saw the Houston native get back to basics and rediscover his passion for boxing.
“Just being me, going to Haney’s fight I stopped doing the things that put me at the top,” he admitted. I changed everything and my coach warned me about that a long time ago, he said, “A lot of people do this, they did something that worked for their career and they got a big opportunity and they changed everything.” And that’s what I did. I probably should have kept it that way. Just being me again.
“One of the most important things, I coached with different coaches and I changed my head coach, Bobby Benton, I made him my assistant coach and I made one of my assistant coaches my head coach, which was a mistake in retrospect. Even in the camp, when I did that, we had some conflict. Bobby is back at No. 1. I feel like what I did in the gym is amazing, even my coaches are like, “This is old Regis, he’s back.” My coaches would be honest with me if I wasn’t.
“I’m getting back to being myself and the important thing is just having fun, Bobby tells me that every day. I feel like the last fight was a lot of pressure for me, the people around me, my friends, you shouldn’t have all this pressure. I had to think about it but that is true. Bobby will give me some instructions before I start talking and the last thing he will say is, ‘Go have fun.’ That’s what I’m doing right now.”
At the age of 35, we are coming out of an extended period of rest, there are those who believe that we have seen the best of Prograis. However, Prograis is not one of them. He aims to channel his inner “Rougarou”.
“Let people talk, I will not allow anyone to tell me who I am, I will show you who I am,” he said defiantly. “As long as I’m Regis, someone who has reached the top twice, as long as that person comes along, I’m fine and I feel like that person hasn’t been around for a long time. I feel myself coming back to who I am and what got me to the top in the first place. If that Regis shows up, it won’t be a rough night. “
Catterall (29-1, 13 KOs), ranked No. 4 by The Ring at junior welterweight, learned on the job after peaking in 2012. He’s got a few impressive wins over the likes of Tom Stalker (TKO 8) and Joe Hughes. (UD 12), and went on to win the British title against Tyrone Nurse (UD 12). However, despite remaining undefeated his career seems to have stalled.
He was fighting at WBO No. 1 and finally got his big break when he met then Ring champion Josh Taylor. Catterll put up the fight of his life, taking down Taylor before taking the defending champion’s case. Most believed he had done enough, but he lost a 12-round split decision. When a rematch never happened, the 31-year-old bounced back to beat Darragh Foley (UD 10) and wily veteran threeweight champion Jorge Linares (UD 12). He eventually got the better of Taylor and went his own way with a 12-round unanimous decision.
Catterall-Taylor, along with undercard action, will air on DAZN at 2 pm ET/ 11 am PT and 7:00 pm GMT.
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected].
