Promoter Eddie Hearn has announced that Jack Catterall will fight former two-time light welterweight champion Regis Prograis in a 12-way bout on August 24 at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
Dangerous Similarities of Aging Prograis
Prograis, 35, (29-2, 24 KOs) is fighting for the first time since losing his WBC 140-lb title to the bullish Devin Haney last December in San Francisco.
Prograis is thrown to the wolves, facing Catteral, which, in his defense, is all wrong for him and will make life difficult on August 24.
It’s not a good matchup for the shop-worn Prograis because Catterall’s fighting style is similar to that of Haney and Shakur Stevenson, which includes a lot of taunting, jabbing, potshots, and walking around. Fans believe that Prograis has washed up, and is dedicated to making Catterall look better than he is.
Catterll uses a three-step pullback that is a complete copy of Shakur and boring to watch. I hope for the sake of the fans, Catterall ditches his Shakur style and comes to fight because he won’t raise his level unless he makes the fans happy.
Barboza Jr.: The Catcher
This is not the fight that Catterall and his fans were hoping for, as he wanted to fight Arnold Barboza Jr. for the WBO title.
It is not surprising that this fight is not happening because Barboza Jr. he’s ranked at the top of the WBO rankings at 140, and doesn’t need to fight the highly defensive Catterall for a title shot.
Catterll (29-1, 13 KOs) recently defeated Josh Taylor via a 12-round unanimous decision last May in Leeds, England.
At the end of the tournament, Taylor’s promoter, Bob Arum, entered the ring and ran wild, complaining about the judges’ scores and saying that his players would never come to the UK again.
Hearn is promoting Catterll and Prograis, so he doesn’t have to worry about an outside promoter equaling royalty when the scores are announced. There is expected to be a mismatch in favor of Catteral, so there should be no conflict after that.
Prograis: The Ghost of His Former Self
Prograis has looked awful in his last two fights against Haney and Danielto Zorrilla. He doesn’t quite look like the pitcher who knocked out Jose Zepeda in 2022, but it’s unclear if that’s the age or if he’s being matched up against guys who were too good for him.
Haney looked like a super middleweight in the ring with Prograis last December, so why he lost to him is understandable. But against Zorrilla, a fighter who hasn’t done anything in his career, it was shocking that Prograis struggled so hard against him.
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