By Sean Jones: Regis Prograis will be facing Juan Heraldez on October 24 on the undercard of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz on Showtime pay-per-view. Prograis-Heraldez is an excellent fight for the card, and it should be filled with fireworks from start to finish.
The former WBA light-welterweight champion Prograis (24-1, 20 KOs) makes his first appearance since losing to IBF 140-lb champion Josh Taylor by a 12 round majority decision in the final of the World Boxing Super Series tournament in London, England.
Prograis, 31, came close to beating Taylor, but he mistakenly fought too long on the inside in the first part of the fight. You can call pride or whatever made Prograis battle Taylor in close when it is evident that he didn’t match up with the Scottish fighter on the inside.
Regis can showcase his skills
Prograis tried to fight with former WBO 140-lb champion Maurice Hooker earlier this year, but the negotiations fizzled out over the weight. Hooker wanted the match to take place at a catchweight above 140, and it was too much for Prograis, who isn’t a big light-welterweight. He didn’t want to be fighting a full welterweight in tanking on the 5’11” Hooker.
Regis needs an excellent performance to get back to his winning ways and to make boxing fans forget about his loss to Taylor. What Prograis needs to show is that he can adapt quickly during the fight and not get stuck fighting the same way round after round the way he did against Taylor.
The 11-year professional Heraldez (16-0-1, 10 KOs) has taken things slowly with his career, and he’s not faced anyone at the level of Prograis. In Heraldez’s last fight, he fought to a 10-round majority draw against Argenis Mendez’s previous year in May 2019. That’s not a good sign when you speculate on Heraldez’s chances of beating Prograis on October 24.
Really looking forward to seeing @RPrograis back in action on 24 Oct as he takes on MP own Juan Heraldez. Will Regis make a big statement?
— Leonard Ellerbe (@LEllerbe) September 29, 2020
Santa Cruz preparing for Tank Davis
“My brother and my dad are the ones that look at the tape,” said Santa Cruz to Fighthype on tape of Tank Davis. “I look at it every once in awhile to see what punches he has, but my brother is the one that tells me, ‘He throws the uppercut good, so you’ve got to watch out for the uppercut, and he loads up on a lot of punches.’
“He’s training me to fight Tank, and the fight that I have to fight so I can beat him. In the gym, we’re practicing all that, and hopefully, everything plays out like we’re planning in the gym as it does in the fight, and we’ll get the win. It looks like he’s focused and training 100%.
“He’s dedicated, so he shouldn’t have any problems. And he’s not that tall. He’s 5’4”, so he shouldn’t have any problems making 130 because of his height. He looks like he’s working hard, and he looks like he’s cutting weight really good. I think he no longer looks fat anymore.
“Hopefully, he doesn’t have any trouble, and he comes in at weight,” said Santa Cruz on Davis, making weight.