Prograis Aims To Dominate Catterall – ‘I Do Need A Knockout’
Regis Prograis talked up his upcoming fight against Jack Catterall on August 24.
The former WBC Junior Welterweight Champion has his first fight in August since losing his belt to Devin Haney last December. Regis lost every round on his way to a unanimous decision loss. There were question marks over whether Prograis was the same fighter. He is now 34 and entering the latter parts of his career. Catterall, meanwhile, avenged his loss to Josh Taylor in his previous bout.
Catterall had arguably won the first fight against Taylor, only to get robbed of a decision. He made no mistake in the rematch, outboxing Taylor to a unanimous decision win. Prograis and Catterall know their fight takes them a step closer to a world title shot. Liam Paro holds the IBF Junior Welterweight Title following his win over Subriel Matias. Since Paro is with Matchroom, that fight could get made. Catterall and Regis are also ranked in the top five within the WBA and IBF rankings. So, a win for either fighter propels their career forward.
Prograis Reacts
“Because my goal is to become a three-time champion and this is the only thing that’s going to get me to becoming a three-time champion. Right now, you know, the goal was I was supposed to fight Matias, and then he lost and then I thought I was going to fight Paro and then that didn’t happen. So they gave me Jack and I think this is the best opportunity for me right now. Jack is the biggest name without a belt right now,” Prograis said
Regis also addressed Catterall’s win over Taylor. There was controversy over the scorecards being too wide: 117-111, 117-111 and 116-113. Those cards did not sit well with Bob Arum. The Top Rank promoter, who represents Taylor, took the microphone in the post-fight comments in the ring. He slammed the judges, calling the cards a ‘disgrace.’ There was a perception that Catterall may have been given a wide margin on the cards due to the scoring in the first fight.
Catterall had outboxed Taylor, only to not get the decision. The verdict was a massive blow for Catterall, who missed out on becoming the Undisputed Junior Welterweight Champion. Since Taylor vacated his belt, except for the WBO before losing that to Teofimo Lopez, the rematch with Catterall was not for the belts. Progrias watched the fight, saying the Taylor-Catterall rematch was much closer than the cards. That is why he is looking for a stoppage to remove all doubt.
Prograis’ Aim
“Honestly, it was a close fight. I do think that it was a closer fight than the first one but I feel like they owed from the first fight and that’s kind of why. [And] I’m not going to say that’s why he got it but I feel like that he did beat him the first time but actually the second time was a closer fight Maybe. I might [need a stoppage].
“I don’t want to say yes but I feel like he fought here last time with Josh Taylor and Bob Arum he came up and he said what he said. So I do feel like the judges will be fair but in the back of my mind you always think like ‘maybe I do need a knockout.’ So I’m just going to go out there and do me and I feel like if I am who I been in the past, I won’t have no troubles,” Prograis added
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