Jack Catterall (29-1, 13 KOs) and Regis Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs) both weighed in successfully at Friday’s weigh-in and are set to meet for their 12-round headliner this Saturday, October 26th. The two Matchroom Boxing-promoted light welterweights will be competing with the winner to challenge for the IBF 140-lb title in 2025. Saturday’s event will be shown live on DAZN from the Co-op Live in Manchester.
Weights:
– Jack Catterall – 140lbs
– Regis Prograis – 139.7lbs
Catterall has the home country advantage in this fight, but that may not help him because the former WBA and WBC light welterweight champion Prograis is amped up about fighting on the road. He likes this a lot better than competing in his home country, the U.S., which isn’t surprising because he’s not done well lately there.
Prograis lost to Devin Haney on December 9th last year, and before that, he edged Danielito Zorrilla by a 12-round split decision on June 17th, 2023, in New Orleans. Many boxing fans now believe that Prograis is over the hill at 35 and not the fighter he was during his best years.
Prograis may not need to be at his best to defeat Catterall because this guy is not considered an elite-level fighter. Indeed, he may be more domestic-level than true world-class. We know that Catterall has been toiling away for 12 years as a professional, and his only win over a top-tier fighter was Josh Taylor.
“Yes, I do agree with it. I just don’t think he’s on my level. He fought Josh Taylor twice. I only fought him once. There’s nothing on his resume. If you look at his and look at mine, it’s nothing,” said Regis Prograis to Ariel Helwani’s channel about Jack Catterall not being a world-class fighter.
The only names on Catterall’s resume that stand out are Josh Taylor and Jorge Linares. Both fighters had a lot of ring wear by the time Catterall fought them and were nowhere near their top form. Catterall will be flying blind in this fight against Prograis, hoping that he can avoid getting clipped by one of his best shots.
In Catterall’s recent win over Taylor, he struggled with the pressure and the heavy shots he was getting hit with, and won a questionable 12-round unanimous decision earlier this year on May 25th.
“I don’t feel he’s a world-class fighter, and he’s not on my level. That’s what I’m going to go out there and prove. I took it immediately because Jack is highly rated,” said Prograis, agreeing immediately when the fight against Prograis was offered to him.
It’s going to be interesting to see how well Catterall does against Prograis because he’s not considered to be on the level of Devin Haney, who beat Regis by a wide decision. Haney is obviously not a great fighter, as we discovered in his fight against Ryan Garcia last April.
“He didn’t want to fight me. He wanted to fight Teofimo Lopez over me. Too much danger,” said Prograis, explaining why Catterall didn’t want to fight him. “I’m still a two-time world champion. If you take Josh Taylor off his resume, it’s nothing.
“No, I didn’t think he was hurt. He didn’t want to fight, and he didn’t want to fight from the beginning. Matchroom forced his hand. They made him take the fight. They didn’t make me take the fight. I said, ‘Yes’ twice already. After the Josh Taylor fight, he wanted to go straight into a world title fight, but they made him fight me.
“At first, I thought, ‘Man, they’re trying to mess over me, trying to make me go to Manchester. They’re trying to make me fight him in his hometown,’ but I actually like this better,” said Prograis.
