The two-time junior welterweight titleholder Regis Prograis has aspirations for a third crack at a division crown, and he’ll move one step closer to this should he get past Jack Catterall on Saturday at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England on DAZN.
Prograis, 29-2 (24 KOs), will fight for the first time since losing his WBC 140-pound belt to Devin Haney in December during a lopsided unanimous decision defeat.
Catterall, 29-1 (13 KOs), meanwhile, is coming off a unanimous decision win against Josh Taylor, the only other fighter to have beaten Prograis in his 12-year career.
“I’m ready to get back to my roots and the basics,” Prograis told BoxingScene. “I feel like I lost myself over the last year. I put too much pressure on myself. I need to go back to being me again. My goal is to now become a three-time champion.
“Jack did what he was supposed to do versus Taylor in the rematch. I feel like Taylor is shot right now. I don’t think he’s the same fighter. Josh definitely pushed the action more. But I feel like they owed Jack that win, so that’s why he got it.
“Our fight is the biggest fight you can make in the division without a belt being on the line. All of these guys at 140 are getting beat. They are not looking good. Jack is one of the ones at the top right now.”
The current junior welterweight titleholders include Teofimo Lopez (WBO), Liam Paro (IBF), Jose Valenzuela (WBA) and Alberto Puello (WBC). Prograis and Catterall, two of the best of the rest, were originally supposed to fight on August 24 but the clash was delayed due to Catterall suffering an injury.
“I heard it was a bruised rib,” said Prograis. “I don’t know if that’s true, because a bruised rib takes longer to heal. Maybe he wasn’t ready to fight. Mentally, it’s a good thing for me, and it adds more confidence that they needed extra time. Stalling me out is not going to work.”
Catterall will mark the eighth southpaw opponent Prograis has faced in his last 13 fights, a run that dates back to 2017.
“I enjoy fighting southpaws now. I’d rather fight a southpaw than an orthodox fighter,” said Prograis. “I feel like it’s easier right now. I fought a bunch of them and I am used to them.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
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