Prograis: Taylor CAN’T beat me

By Boxing News - 10/16/2019 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Unbeaten Regis Prograis (24-0, 20 KOs) and Josh Taylor (15-0, 12 KOs) will be meeting inside the ring in 10 days in the final of the World Boxing Super Series light welterweight tournament at the O2 Arena in London, UK. The fight will be shown on Sky Box Office in the UK, and on DAZN in the United States.

WBA light welterweight champion Prograis, 5’8″, has studied IBF champion Taylor’s past fights, and he says there’s absolutely NO way that he’ll be able to beat him on October 26. While Prograis believes that Taylor is a very talented fighter, he says he lacks variation in his game. Taylor fights the exact same way all the way, and he’s very predictable in what he’s going to do. Prograis says he’s the opposite of that, he’s going to beat him to win the Muhammad Ali Trophy and Ring Magazine title on the night.

Prograis denies trying to get out of Taylor fight

“I came here to get adjusted for the fight,” said Prograis to IFL TV about him coming to the UK early to get adjusted to the weather and time zone before his October 26 fight against Josh Taylor. “I told him to his face that there was no way I was going to shy away from this opportunity.

“We fight for all this stuff. My belt, his belt, the Ring Magazine belt, and the Ali Trophy on top of that. I have a letter from the president of the WBC, because I have the WBC Diamond belt, to fight Jose Ramirez for the real belt after. For the official belt after. There’s too many things on the line for me not to want to fight.

For me, I don’t know what his people around him was telling him, but for me, there was no way I wasn’t going to come over here. I showed and I’m showing it now my willingness to come over here, and that’s why I’m here three weeks early. If I didn’t want to come or if I was scared, I’d probably have come two or three days before the fight or something like that. For me, I came three weeks early so I could get fully adjusted for this fight, and just don’t take nothing for granted,” said Prograis.

Whether Taylor actually believes that Prograis was trying to get out of the WBSS tournament is immaterial. If that’s some kind of hangup that Taylor is latching on to in order to feel good about his chances of winning, he may be in for a rude awakening when Prograis shows up for the fight on October 26 ready to school him.

Josh Taylor ALWAYS fights the same says Prograis

“I can do anything. One thing about him; I saw his fights,” said Prograis. “He’s got 15 fights, and most of them all look the same. He’s a good boxer, don’t get me wrong. I think he could get in a dog fight, but I can beat him in that department. At the same time, I can do so many different things. Just for me, my style is like no style. I can do so many different things in the ring.

“I feel like I could be slick, and out-box him. And of course if it gets to a dog fight, I can do that too. But I can do so many other things too. It doesn’t have to be just those two things. It doesn’t have to be, ‘you either box or you bang.’ For me, if you look at my last 10 fights, most of them all look different. If you look at his last 10 fights, and all of them look the same,” said Prograis.

It’s impossible for the 5’10” Taylor and his fans to deny the fact that he fights the same way each time he competes. There’s nothing wrong with Taylor fighting the same way every time. It’s obviously worked for him thus far, so why veer away from something that hasn’t hindered him?

Prograis: I should be pound-for-pound after I beat Taylor

“For me, it’s all about October 26th. Definitely,” said Prograis when asked if he would consider himself a pound-for-pound top fighter if he beats Josh Taylor. “After this fight, I should be on the pound-for-pound list for sure. It is #1 and #2, and I’ve been saying this before even before the tournament started. Josh Taylor is the best in the world behind me. I really feel it. This is #1 vs. #2. You don’t get this in boxing. Most of the time you don’t get this. In most divisions, you get the marinating and stuff, but we got it now.

“You got two undefeated world champions in their prime, #1 and #2. most of the time you don’t get this in boxing until. This could be a pay-per-view fight down the line when you get this right now. And this is what we want to see. I think it’s going to be a very exciting fight,” said Prograis.

The pound-for-pound status that Prograis is attempting to get after he beats Taylor might not be worth it. There are plenty of top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport that doesn’t have much of a fan base despite being on the p-4-p list. What Prograis should care more about is building a national fan base in the U.S, so that he can make lots of money.

Prograis: Taylor can’t beat me

“I’m definitely not dropping down,” said Prograis when asked if he’d drop down in weight if he loses to Taylor. “I’m ranked #1. I’m not worried about size. For me, size doesn’t win fights. I see him and stuff, and he’s bigger and taller than me, but size doesn’t win fights. You can say all that stuff, but even if he has all those advantages over me, I still think he can’t beat me.

“I just can’t see how he can beat me. Even if he’s taller, and he is longer. And even if he’s faster, quicker, stronger, and he hits harder. All those things, I still can’t see how he can beat me. I just can’t see it. But I don’t think I’ll ever go down or nothing like that. And if anything, I’ll go up. Size doesn’t matter in a fight,” said Prograis.

Taylor can actually beat Prograis if the fight goes to the scorecards. This match is taking place in the UK, and Taylor is from that part of the world. Therefore, if Prograis doesn’t knock him out, he could lose the fight. For that reason, it might be in Prograis’ best interest to go for a knockout of Taylor.

I’m ready to fight right NOW says Prograis

“I’m antsy right now. I was in the gym. I’m ready now. I do, because I’m so antsy right now,” said Prograis about him wishing he were fighting Taylor this Saturday. “I’m ready to fight right now.

“I’ve been here for a week, and we’ve been doing all this type of stuff and training and stuff. For me I’m just ready right now. The wait is going to kill me, because I’m like I can’t wait to get this fight over with. I can’t wait for the night and go out and perform. Be ready,” said Prograis.

It won’t be long now before Prograis and Taylor face each other on October 26. The fight is just around the corner, and it’s going to be a real thrill for the boxing world to see which of these two fighters emerge a the winner of the WBSS tournament.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep8Lj0jFImo