Shakur Stevenson praised Jack Catterall for his “Hit and don’t get hit” style that he utilized to defeat former WBA and WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis last Saturday night in Manchester, England.
Catterall (30-1, 13 KOs), who has been referred to as the ‘British Shakur’ for the amount of running he does and having a boring fighting style, used the large ring last night to keep away from the heavy-handed Prograis (29-3, 24 KOs) win a 12-round unanimous decision at the Co-op Live Arena.
Unsurprisingly, Shakur would praise Catterall after his performance because he’s a copy of him, albeit a Dollar Tree version and not quite as elusive as the genuine Newark model. However, Catterall’s style is similar enough to Shakur’s to make him almost as boring for fans, who were highly critical of how dull he made the fight due to his running.
Some fighters at 140 and 135 would have beaten Catterall without any problems last Saturday night, but those guys were conveniently not selected by promoter Eddie Hearn.
Catterall is the type of fighter who must be matched carefully to prevent him from losing. If he’s put in with someone who knows how to cut off the ring, chase down a runner, and target the body, he’ll lose. Prograis had none of those things going for him, which is why he was chosen for Catterall.
Prograis Felt He Could Have Won
“I know that if I just got to him one time clean [I would have knocked him out],” said Regis Prograis to Boxing News about whether he felt he could have knocked out Jack Catterall if he’d connected with a big shot last Saturday night.
Prograis staggered Catterall once in the fight, but he lacks the combination of punching and foot speed to chase him down when he starts running. It looked like Prograis hadn’t trained on how to cut off the ring or deal with a runner like Catterall. He should have been more prepared than he showed last night for a class-A runner like Catterall.
“I hurt him a few times. I know I hurt him a few times, and it was like right there. But he had a game plan, and he was moving around the ring,” Prograis continued, talking about Catterall. “I saw how big the ring was when I walked to the ring. So, I understood, ‘Okay, that’s what they’re going to do. They’re going to try and move around,’ but I was prepared for that.”
Regis Wasn’t Prepared
Prograis should have known better than to agree to fight Catterall in England. Going into enemy territory, it was only obvious that it would be set up to favor their fighter; hence, the large ring for the runner to move around all night and play keep-away for 12 boring rounds. He would have won if Prograis could cut off the ring and chase night.
He got into trouble because he was so tentative with his attacks. He was waiting too long instead of jumping on Catterall from round one and chasing him for three minutes without let up. Even with Prograis being an older fighter, he still could have won if he had chased the entire fight and brained him with clubbing shots when he would clinch. He should have studied Artur Beterbiev’s fighting style for this clash to learn how to deal with a runner.
“Just get back up and show them that I wasn’t hurt. That was the main thing, but then I rolled my ankle and my knee. I don’t know if that was when I got dropped or when we both fell together,” said Prograis when asked what went through his mind after he got dropped in the ninth round.
“When we both fell together, I rolled my knee, but I know one of those times, I rolled my knee and my ankle. I just don’t know when. I know it was the later rounds for sure, but I just don’t know when it was,” said Prograis.
This fight was a lost cause for Prograis long before he suffered a knee or ankle injury. He looked shell-shocked after being dropped x 2 in the 9th round, resulting in his already low work rate dropping off to nothing. Further, Catterall used even more movement in rounds 10 through 12 to ensure that Prograis didn’t clip him with anything if he got any ideas.
Again, a fighter with the ability to cut off the ring would have knocked Catterall out because he showed that he could be hit when retreating. Catterall’s offense was nonexistent when he was running. He couldn’t throw on the run and was getting hit with some stupid stuff from the slow-footed Prograis when being chased.
“I think he’s way better than people think he is,” said Prograis about Catterall. “He has an awkward style. He does have sneaky power. He doesn’t have big power, but he does have sneaky power to where it’s going to hurt no matter what.”
Catteroll is hard to beat, Not very fast not super strong but he know how to hit don’t get hit.. Respect!!
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) October 26, 2024
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