Regis Prograis is unhappy with the way heavyweight fringe contender Dereck Chisora disrespected him and Josh Taylor during last Monday’s press conference. Chisora (31-9, 22 KOs) felt that he and his opponent former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (26-2, 20 KOs) should be the headliner on next month’s Sky Box Office card on October 26 at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Prograis unhappy that none of fighters helped him argue with Chisora
Josh Taylor didn’t utter a peep when Chisora was going on a rant during the press conference. Prorais was the only one that spoke up, and Chisora said he would “squash him.”
“I’m the only one that said something,” said Prograis to Fighthype about Chisora. “I said, ‘we’re #1 and #2.’ Supposedly he said something about me, and I didn’t hear. I was still going back and forth with him. I’m not scared of him. I don’t care if he’s heavyweight. I’m the only that said something during the whole press conference. I’m the only one. I heard he does that during press conferences, and that he threw a table. He does all kinds of s—. He walked out. I didn’t know nothing about him. I didn’t know nothing about his record, and he’s got nine losses or something like that,” said Prograis.
Chisora looked like he was ready to make things ugly if Prograis had continued to talk back to him on stage. It would have helped if Taylor had joined Prograis in confronting Chisora, but he wasn’t saying anything. Taylor looked like he was in shock.
Here’s the conversation between them:
Prograis: “We #1 and #2.
Chisora: “Nobody cares about you, bro. To be honest.”
Prograis: “We #1 and #2.”
Chisora: “Don’t get me started, bro, or I’ll squash you. I’m not going to be chief support to these guys. We’re going to need to change that. I’m not going to be chief support. It’s as simple as. These guy wouldn’t sell Box Office by themselves. So you either give me main event or pull me out of the show. You want to put these little guys. Nobody knows about them on my show, and try and mug me off. You know this is not right. The Muhammad Ali Trophy, nobody gives a f—k about it no more. Nobody gives a f— about little guys anymore. They only give a f— about the heavyweight game. The big guys in the top 10. The big guys. Boxing is thriving on the heavyweights. So for you to try and give me the chief support on my own bill, that’s b—-.”
Chisora should have spoken to Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn in private about his issues with being in the co-feature bout. Waiting until the press conference took place for Chisora air his views was out of place. If Chisora is going to continue to disrupt the press conferences all the way up to the fight, it’s going to put a real damper on the card.
“Chisora, he thought he deserved the main event. He kind of went off. It was definitely unexpected for me,” said Regis Prograis to Fighthype in talking about Chisora’s angry rant during Monday’s press conference. “I didn’t know nothing about Chisora. I’d heard his name, but I’d never seen him fight. I didn’t even know who he was. I knew who Joseph Parker was, and I heard Chisora’s name. It was a pretty good fight. He was like, ‘I should be the main event. I should get more money. I understand that, and it’s cool, but you don’t have to disrespect me and Josh Taylor.
“Come on, bro. I understand what you’re saying. It’s cool that you want more money and all that, but you don’t have to disrespect me and him,” said Prograis. “We’re fighting for a lot of stuff. WBA, IBF, Ring Magazine and Muhammad Ali Trophy. He kind of disrespected all that. It was kind of a slap in the face to me. I felt like it was my fight to be in the main event between me and Josh Taylor. That’s why I stuck up for myself. I don’t care how big you are. The thing is, I only said #1 and #2, because that’s the only thing I knew. I didn’t know who he was. Then I found out he’s got nine losses, and he’s not even a top 10 heavyweight. I wish I’d known all that, because I could have brought all that stuff up.
Chisora is just a good fringe contender, and the same applies for his opponent Parker. Both have been exposed at the world level when they’ve tried stepping it up. Chisora on the brink of being pushed out of the top 15 altogether. If Chisora loses to Parker, he could slide out of the top 15. Prograis and Taylor are both world champions at 140, and considered #1 and #2 in the division respectively. Whether they have the same following as Chisora is is unknown. Chisora is popular in the UK, and he’s been involved in a lot of fights, many of which he’s lost. He’s like a high level journey. You can argue that Chisora is like another Matt Skelton. He’s a good fringe contender. If you put him in with flawed guys like Artur Szpilka, he’ll beat them. But when he gets put in with better guys like Dillian Whyte, Kubrat Pulev and Agit Kabayel, he loses every time.
The dude wants more money, that’s cool, but don’t disrespect us,” said Prograis about Chisora. “I don’t think he’s ever been a champion before. We got belts for a reason. We’re world champions. And we’re not only world champions.. We’re number 1 and #2 at our weight divisions. We’re not just world champion. They’ve got world champions, but they’re not ranked as high as we are. Me and Josh Taylor are #1 and #2 fighter in the super lightweight division, and we’re undefeated champions. He never accomplished that stuff. So don’t try and play us,” said Prograis.
“If you saw me at the press conference, steam was kind of coming out of my head,” said Prograis. “What really pissed me off is no one even said anything. I was the only one sticking up for myself. It caught me off guard, because I thought I was going to have a good press conference. I had a lot to talk about, but when that happened, it kind of changed my mood all the way. If the dude more money, I understand.
The way that Chisora told Prograis to pipe down by saying, “Don’t get me started or I’ll squash you,” he wasn’t showing him any respect. Chisora sounded like he wasn’t going to waste time arguing with Prograis.
You’re a prize fighter, and you want to fight for prizes and money,” said Prograis. “That’s cool, but don’t come up here and disrespect us. If you want more money, then talk to Eddie [Hearn], and talk to a person from Sky Sports. But you don’t have to disrespect the fighters. We’re fighters just like you are, and we’ve accomplished more than you’ve accomplished. Most fighters don’t get this chance in their lifetime. This is a chance of a lifetime that I’m fighting on, me and Josh Taylor. All these things are on the line, and he never had that chance. He never had that opportunity. So don’t try and play us,” said Prograis.
