By Jim Calfa: WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis has a fight in the works against former world title challenger Jack Catterall.
Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) has been looking for an opponent after Jose Ramirez and Teofimo Lopez opted not to take advantage of their rankings with the WBC. Mike Coppinger is reporting the news of the Prograis vs. Catterall talks.
While Catterall isn’t well known to casuals in the U.S, he’s a household name in the UK and a good scalp for Prograis to add to his collection to set him apart from the fading Josh Taylor, who has lost a few steps since their battle in 2019.
Interestingly, Taylor has shown no interest in fighting Prograis again despite beating him by a 12 round majority decision, albeit in a controversial match in London, England.
Prograis on another level
The way that Prograis figured out Taylor in the second half of their fight, one gets the sense that he would have dominated the Scottish fighter if he’d chosen to take the rematch.
Catterall (26-1, 13 KOs) had recently hoped to face WBO light welterweight champion Taylor in a rematch, but he was surprisingly leapfrogged by Teofimo in the WBO’s rankings to take the fight he wanted.
Like at 135, Teofimo has been given the red carpet treatment at 140, allowing him to move in front of fighters that have slogged for years, like Arnold Barboza, Catterall, and Gary Antuanne Russell
It says a lot about Catterall’s courage that he’s willing to fight Prograis because he’s viewed by many as the #1 fighter in the 140-lb division.
Prograis has been avoided like the plague by the top fighters in the division, and surprisingly, someone has raised their hand to fight him. The way that Prograis dealt with Jose Zepeda last November may have scarred off Teofimo and Jose Ramirez, making them choose another path.
Is Catterall over his head?
It’s hard to know how good Catterall is because the only notable name on his 11-year professional career is Josh Taylor, and as I said, he hasn’t looked like the same fighter he once was since his war with Prograis four years ago.
While Catterall looked good enough to deserve a win against Taylor, that performance wouldn’t be good enough to beat Prograis because he’s on another level right now. Catterall will need to find another gear and more power to have a shot against Prograis, and that’s probably not going to happen.