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Regis Prograis has changed his tune about Jack Catterall after saying he was the best he had ever fought after losing to him by a 12-round unanimous decision last Saturday night in Manchester, England. Prograis (29-3, 24 KOs) now says he made that remark because he was in the UK and wanted to be gracious after getting beaten by the home fighter, Catterall (30-1, 13 KOs) at the Co-op Live Arena.
In an interview today, the former WBA and WBC light welterweight champion Prograis said that Catterall is NOT the best fighter he’s fought, but he’s “Better than he thought” he was after having watched him on video before facing him. Prograis states that Catterall is “awkward” and hard to hit.
Regis says it was an easy fight for him until his coach told him to start fighting aggressively after the sixth round because he was concerned that they wouldn’t be able to win a decision against the British fighter Catterall because they were in the UK. When Prograis began walking to Catterall, he got hurt in the ninth round and dropped twice.
In hindsight, Prograis wishes he had continued to box Catterall as he’d been doing, but given that he was in the UK, he felt he had no choice but to fight aggressively to ensure he got the win.
Prograis Dominated Early On
“Early on, I boxed him and it was easy with my jab. I was boxing him all around the ring. The first six rounds, it was easy,” said Regis Prograis to Fight Hub TV, discussing what went wrong in his loss to Jack Catterall last Saturday night.
“Then my coach told me, ‘You need to step it up. Be a little more busy.’ That’s when I got caught. Once that happened, the fight kind of shifted. My coach told me, ‘We think you’re up, but we’re over here in the UK, and I think you might have to do something else,’” said Prograis.
It would have been interesting to see if Prograis would have gotten the decision if he’d chosen to box Catterall the entire fight instead of getting reckless and going on the attack. We’ll never know for sure, but Prograis was definitely dominating the fight going into round nine. He’d dropped Catterall with a right hand in round five and looked in a strong position to win heading into the ninth.
“That’s when I started stepping it up and walking to him, and that’s when he caught me,” said Prograis. “I was still was good; I wasn’t hurt, but then I hurt my ankle real bad. I twisted my ankle and my knee. My coach told me, ‘You have to knock him out,’ but that was playing into his hands. That’s what he wanted me to do.”
Prograis: Catterall NOT The “Best I Faced”
When Prograis went on that attack in the second half, Catterall took advantage of that in the same way he did in his two fights against Josh Taylor. Catterall is good at fighters who attack but who don’t target his body. A good Mexican fighter who can cut off the ring and hit Catterall to the body would bring him to earth.
If you walk toward Catterall, targeting his head, he does well against that type. However, with a good chin that throws a lot of punches and can chase Catterall down, they’ll beat him because he has no real offense.
“They didn’t expect me to box him. He’s not the best I faced. Let’s put it this way,” said Prograis. “He’s better than I thought. You got to the UK, and you have a UK fighter; you have to damn near knock him out. You can’t win a decision. My coach told me, ‘You got to be busier.’ I thought I could knock him out. The one-two, he was really good at slipping that. I couldn’t get to him.”
Catterall didn’t look that impressive at all in the fight, but Prograis was too limited in terms of his chin, combination punching, stamina and ability to cut off the ring to take advantage of his flawed game. There are a lot of fighters at 140, 135, and 147 that would feast on a limited guy like Catterall. Promoter Eddie Hearn has done an excellent job of protecting Catterall from those fighters to keep him from losing.
Haney Possesses More Tools
“He’s a better fighter than I thought he was because he’s very awkward,” said Prograis. “Nah, I think Devin has more tools,” said Prograis when asked if Catterall is better than Haney. “I would say I was a better fighter on Saturday night than I was with Devin. The Devin fight, it wasn’t me.
“For this fight, I was more focused and more present. I can’t say who was better. They have two different styles. I can say Devin has more tools. Jack doesn’t have a good jab. He doesn’t have a good right hand,” said Prograis.
Haney looked better against Prograis than Catterall did. There’s no comparison between the two. Haney dominated Prograis the entire fight, dropping him and winning a wide 12-round unanimous decision last year on December 9th in San Franciso, California. The scores were 120-107, 120-107, and 120-107.
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