By Dan Ambrose: Former light-welterweight champions Regis Prograis and Maurice Hooker are stuck in a stalemate for their August catchweight fight over difficulties agreeing on the weight for the fight.
Prograis (24-1, 20 KOs) agreed to move up an extra pound to meet Hooker at 144 pounds after he and his team asked for him to move up to 147 lbs for the fight, according to @MikeCoppinger. But Hooker wants Progais to come up another pound to 145 pounds, and that’s not something he’s willing to do at this time.
Considering that Prograis wants to stay in the 140-pound division, he was already bending over backward in initially agreeing to fight Hooker at 143 pounds.
144 pounds not good enough
Prograis then agreed to go up one pound to 144 lbs, but even then, that’s not going to be enough. If Hooker stays firm at wanting Prograis to fight him at 145, then they might as well go all the way to 147.
This wouldn’t be a big deal if there were a rehydration clause to make sure that Hooker didn’t rehydrate up to 160+ pounds for the fight, but that’s probably not the case. Additionally, Prograis is potentially messing with his body by agreeing to fight Hooker at 144 lbs, seeing that he may find it increasingly difficult to make the 140-lb limit after this.
When fighters start going up in weight, they mess their body’s set point, and it becomes impossible for many of them to ever return to the weight that used to be at and be strong.
Taking into account what Prograis could be doing to his future, it’s not worth it for him to agree to fight above 140. Even deciding to 143 is a wrong decision for Prograis because this isn’t a fight that’s going to make him huge money. If this were a match that would see Prograis making $5-10 million, then it would be worth it.
Hooker has outgrown the 140-pound division after eight years in that weight class. For some reason, the 30-year-old Hooker wants to face Prograis rather than taking on someone at 147. It’s a little odd, but we often see stuff like this. Maybe Hooker lacks the confidence to fight actual welterweights?
Fighters move up, and instead of taking on guys in the new weight class for the first couple of matches, they drag an opponent from their old weight class up in weight. It doesn’t make much sense, but that’s how they do it.
Will Prograis agree to 145?
Prograis had already given up on the idea of fighting Hooker recently after his trainer said they wanted the weight moved to 147 from the originally agreed on 143. But it seems Prograis still wants the fight because he’s now willing to go up to 144.
So, does Prograis go up another pound to 145? If so, then hopefully it’s worth it for him in terms o the money he’s going to make. If Prograis can’t make 140 again after this fight, he’ll know why.
Hooker and Prograis had planned on fighting on Aril 17, but the fight was canceled due to the pandemic. The teams then looked at moving it to August, but the issues the weight has gotten in the way.
Hooker reportedly has put on a lot of weight and is said to be high 160s. For Hooker to lose all the weight, it’s going to take time.
If he’s at 168, it’s going to be a problem for him melting off a portion of that weight to face Prograis in August. Hooker (27-1-3, 18 KOs) can drain down a fair amount of weight in the week of the contest, but it’s going to be hard on him.
Why isn’t Hooker fighting welterweights?
It wouldn’t be an issue if Hooker targeted a welterweight to fight instead of trying to drag a 140-pound fighter like Prograis to fight, but this is what he wants. It’s not exactly the smartest thing for Hooker to do, but this is his decision. If Hooker loses to Prograis, he’ll have a good excuse.
“Sources: With Regis Prograis and Maurice Hooker locked in a stalemate over one pound, Prograis’ team is moving on with other options. Chris Algieri has been offered a fight with Prograis on DAZN this summer. Prograis was also offered an ESPN headline line slot this summer,” said @MikeCoppinger.
