Redis Prograis suffered an ankle sprain while sliding to the canvas in the 11th round of his loss to Jack Catterall on Saturday night at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed the injury, while Prograis (29-3, 24 KOs) confirmed he suffered the injury when he fell in the 11th round after throwing and missing a right hand that was meant to be a fight-saving Hail Mary.
What Keeps Prograis from Succeeding
– No pressure force
– Combination of characters
– Physical attack
– Not equipped to cut the ring
– Strong chin
Considering Prograis has only fought one leg since the 11th round, he did an impressive job in a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Catterll, 31, in his home country. The judges scored it 117-108, 116-109 and 116-109.
Prograis went down twice in the ninth round after being cut with left hands. Catterll was on the canvas in the fifth round because of a jab that caused him to stumble.
Prograis could have won this battle if he had the right tools but no technical skills. It was a game he should have been able to win.
For a fighter who has been in the sport for 12 years and won two world titles, it’s shocking that Prograis has never learned how to apply pressure, attack the body, or cut the ring.
A fighter like him William Zepeda from the lightweight division would have been a nightmare for Catterall tonight because of all of the above areas that Prograis lacked in his game, he is strong in.
Catteral would be forced to fight, he would be constantly pressured, and physically attacked. If you were to design a fighter in a laboratory to beat Catterall, Zepeda would be a creation and promoter Eddie Hearn would be a nightmare later.
“Maybe 12 rounds is too much for me now,” said Regus Prograis on DAZN Boxing when he was interviewed after his loss to Catteral on Saturday night. “I started to fade in the later rounds. I hurt my knee. I hurt my ankle. It’s because it’s getting too long, I guess. For now, I’m going to do something else and let the boys take over.”
“First three rounds or four rounds,” said Eddie Hearn at Stomping Grounds about Catterall’s slow start. “You don’t make southern claws resistant. You pit two top-five fighters against each other, and sometimes, if there’s a lot on the line, the first three rounds will be a bit cagey.
“It was the fifth round and the knockdown put him down and the fight changed. Suddenly, I thought Jack was probably behind after the fifth or sixth round. So, I had to get out of there and be aggressive. “When he got angry, he hurt Regis,” said Hearn.
The punch that first hurt Prograis in the ninth round came when he was attacked, and he received it in self-defense. It was not a matter of Catterll being aggressive. He was not aggressive in traditional fighting. Even after Catterll dropped Prograis twice in the ninth round, he barely landed any punches in the 10th, 11th, and 12th rounds. Catterall was playing it safe, afraid to let his hands go for fear of being cut off.
“Besides, Regis Prograis is a worthy fighter. It was a nice talk. He completely turned his ankle in the 11th round. He made it through to round 12. Yes, because he sprained his ankle. It was hanging. He couldn’t even stand up from it, but he never stopped trying to win the battle. A lot of respect for him,” said Hearn.
Let’s get this straight: An injured ankle is not the reason why Prograis lost tonight at Catteral. He lost because he didn’t know how to press, cut the ring, throw body punches, or handle one of the potshots that Catterall was hitting him with. Prograis was going to lose without a good chin because he couldn’t win because he couldn’t handle the punch.
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