By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA light welterweight champion Regis Prograis (24-1, 20 KOs) is calling out Mikey Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs) to fight him. Mikey, 32, just signed a one-bout contract with Matchroom Boxing USA, and he’ll be in action on February 29. Mikey still doesn’t have an opponent for that date, but fellow Matchroom fighter Jessie Vargas is supposed to be in the top spot to get that fight.
Vargas briefly held the WBO welterweight title after stopping Sadam Ali in the 9th round in March 2016. Eight months later, Pacquiao easily beat Vargas by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision. Since then, Vargas’ career has been in a freefall into mediocrity.
Prograis would arguably be a far better option for Mikey to fight than Vargas, who has done next to nothing with his career since being dethroned by Manny Pacquiao in 2016. Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn perhaps sees Vargas as being a winnable fight for Mikey.
Prograis might be too RISKY for Mikey to fight in February
The highly talented Prograis might be considered TOO good of an opponent for Mikey’s first fight with Matchroom on February 29. Mikey has been careful with his match-making ever since his close call against Orlando Salido way back in January 2013. That was a fight in which Mikey dominated the first six rounds in knocking Salido down 3 times. However, by the 7th round, Mikey had gassed out and was taking punishment.
It looked like Salido was going to work him over, and stop him. After Mikey suffered a broken nose from a clash of heads in the 8th, his brother/trainer Robert Garcia pulled him out of the fight. He might have saved Mikey from being knocked out by Salido, because he was no longer dominating the fight. Salido had clearly taken out, and one could tell that the last 4 rounds would have been pure misery for Mikey.
Matchroom has a one-fight option on Mikey, which means they can bring him back for another fight later in 2020. It’s thought that Manny Pacquiao is the prime target for Mikey’s second fight next year.
Prograis dares Mikey Garcia to fight him
“Fight me,” said Prograis about Mikey Garcia. “Even Robert [Garcia said it after I said, ‘I get the winner of Postol and Ramirez.’ Somebody sent it to me, and he said, “What about Mikey at 140 on DAZN?’ So that’s it. I told you I was going to fight your boy [Mikey].
“I told you a long time ago that’s who I’m going to fight, and I don’t know about February, but it won’t be me for sure,” said Prograis when asked if it’ll be him that faces Mikey in his next fight on February 29. “I don’t know who he’s going to fight in February. Maybe him and someone. We’ll see.
“Of course, everything I’m in is exciting,” said Prograis in responding to a question about whether a fight between him and Mikey would be exciting. “Everything he’s involved is exciting. I know I’m not going to back down, and he’s not going to back down.
“Possibly [a fight between him and Mikey going 12 rounds], and Spence didn’t knock him out.” said Prograis. “He’s been in there with Spence. You think about it, I had Josh Taylor hurt a few times, and I didn’t capilitize, especially in the 12th round. I didn’t capitalize on it. You can’t change the past. All you can do is work on the future. You make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Prograis said.
Prograis is someone that could set-up a fight between Mikey and Pacquiao, but he could also ruin things. At this point, Mikey might not have the size and the work rate to beat Prograis. There’s been too many years of inactivity and soft living that Mikey has had, and Prograis is in his prime right now.
Prograis regrets not stopping Josh Taylor
“I had him, but I still think I won the fight, but it was close,” said Prograis about having Josh Taylor hurt 2 to 3 times during their fight. “I can’t complain. That’s why I never complain and saying, ‘He robbed me.’ I never said that, and I would never say he robbed me.
“I still think I won the fight. It was 7-5, so I can’t complain about it,” Prograis continued in talking about Taylor. “I had him [hurt] 2 times, and I didn’t capitalize. Yeah, down the line,” said Prograis when asked if he’d like to have a rematch with Taylor. “Let it build up. If he’s going to go fight Ramirez, let him do that in the summer. And let him fight for the undisputed.
“I think he [Taylor beats Jose Ramirez]. If Ramirez wins, it wouldn’t be a surprise,” said Prograis. “If that fight happens, hopefully it does happen for the boxing fans, I stick with Taylor. He’s bigger [than Ramirez]. I wouldn’t say stronger. I don’t know how hard Ramirez hits. It just seems like Taylor has the better resume, and he’s strong and he’s tough. He can box and he can bang,” said Prograis.
Where Prograis made a mistake against Taylor was by fighting him on the inside for prolonged periods, and he clearly didn’t have the skills to beat him in close. Taylor is VERY good inside fighter, and it was a bad decision on Prograis’ part to fight his fight.
When Prograis made adjustments late in the match and fought on the outside, he worked Taylor over. Taylor looked beaten up, and was on the run in the 11th and 12th rounds. But it was too late by then for Prograis to make up all the early rounds that he’d lost in trying to fight Taylor in close.
Prograis wants Ramirez or Mikey
“Taylor is definitely bigger. I can’t compare the power,” Prograis said when asked about Josh Taylor’s power compared to Jose Ramirez’s. “I’ve never been in there with Ramirez. It would be a good fight. I would definitely want to see it, and I’m still here waiting. Forever,” said Prograis when asked if he’d like to fight Ramirez.
“He’s [Ramirez] got Postol next. If that fight doesn’t happen, then I’ll be right there waiting for it. Either one, you know. Taylor or Ramirez. Either one of them if they don’t fight with each other. If not, me and Mikey can fight. I don’t know what belt we’d fight for, and I don’t know that it matters.
“And I think the fans would really want to see that fight, and both of us would be paid very handsomely. Probably a lot better than all the other 140s out there together. My thing is I’ve always wanted to be undisputed. This is a little setback,” said Prograis in talking about his loss to Taylor.
Prograis likely won’t be given a shot against WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Jose Ramirez, because he’s got the Josh Taylor fight in 2020. His promoters at Top Rank want to use him as an opponent for WBO 147-lb champion Terence Crawford.
Top Rank unlikely to let Ramirez fight Prograis
Prograis is in the same situation as he is in trying to get a fight against Mikey. He’s too risky for Ramirez, and Top Rank isn’t going to make a fight with him and watch him beat their guy. By the time Prograis does eventually get a fight against Ramirez, it won’t be worth it. He’ll have been beaten by Taylor and Crawford. Ramirez might not even beat Viktor Postol. That’s going to be a hard fight for Ramirez, and he could lose.
If Prograis waits around for a couple years, he might get a fight with Ramirez, but not Mikey. That fight likely will never happen. Mikey doesn’t throw enough punches to beat a fighter like Prograis, and his career will likely be over soon anyway. He’s getting plump in between fights, and he sits out of the ring for too long for him to keep his skills up.
Prograis would be better off forgetting about Ramirez and Mikey, and instead focusing on working his way into a title shot at 140 or 147. The money is better at 147, but Prograis is kind of small for that weight class.
Crawford in a sad position says Prograis
“The dude was catching Crawford with some shots, but it’s Crawford. He stepped it up and beat him,” said Prograis to Fighthype in talking about Terence’s win last Saturday against Egidijus Kavaliauskas. “With him it’s a real sad situation, because between him and Errol, they’re the two best in the world at 147.
“Then you’ve got Pacquiao, Danny Garcia, Ugas, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Errol and Crawford,” said Prograis. “Between him [Crawford] and Errol are the two top. But he’s on the other side. They say quote, ‘On the other side of the street,’ whatever that means. But I definitely want to see them fight. Top dogs. The two top dogs. I can’t say Errol. the two top dogs.
“I want to see them fight each other or at least see him fight somebody on that side. It’s sad to see. Everyone wants to see him [Crawford] fight the best, but he’s constantly fighting no name opponents. His opponent [Kavaliauskas] was unbeaten He was a good fighter, but he’s not on the level of where the rest of them are. I want to see that,” said Prograis.
Top Rank Boxing promoter Bob Arum is optimistic that he’ll be able to get PBC fighter ‘Showtime’ Shawn Porter to fight WBO welterweight champion Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) in 2020. We’ll see if that’s the case. If not, Arum is going to need to be inventive if he’s to find someone that’s got the big name that Crawford needs to increase his popularity.
Obviously, putting Crawford in with guys like Kavaliauskas, Amir Khan, Jose Benavidez Jr. isn’t doing the job.