By Adam Baskin: Regis Prograis says he’ll be ready to step in as the opponent for Ryan Garcia on April 15th if the Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Kingry mega-fight fails to happen for whatever reason.
WBC light welterweight champion Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) says he’ll fight Ryan on April 15th, but he doesn’t want them to wait three weeks before the date to gain an advantage over him.
If Golden Boy Promotions are going to use Prograis as the substitute opponent for the 24-year-old Ryan, they’re going to need to let him know soon.
Has Tank lost his nerve?
A wheelchair-bound Gervonta, looking infirm, was seen getting pushed around last Sunday at the Super Bowl, and who knows if he’s having injury problems or if he’s having second thoughts about fighting Ryan Garcia.
With Tank looking frail in a wheelchair, he might not be ready to step inside the ring with Ryan in April. If Tank is faking an injury, what does that tell you? He doesn’t want that smoke and will play the old, sick commando bit to get out of the fight.
If you’re Ryan, you might want to have Tank supply a doctor’s note to verify his ankle problem.
We’re already hearing about Tank Davis’ management making a big fuss over the rematch clause for the Ryan fight on April 15th, which could be interpreted to mean that they’re looking for a way out for their fighter.
“Ryan is not on my level boxing-wise. He’s a social media sensation with 10 million followers. He’s huge,” said Regis Prograis to Fight Hub TV. “But on the boxing front, he’s not on my level. I’m a two-time champion at 140. He’s never even won a belt before,” Regis said.
Prograis good for April 15th
“I know he’s said, ‘Belts don’t matter.’ Of course, belts don’t matter for someone that doesn’t have a belt,” Prograis said. “It’ll bring me a lot of fans, and it’ll be a huge fight. Not just for me, but for him too. He wants a belt. He wants something I have. I want something that he has, so I think that’ll be a real big fight.
“I want to fight the best people and go down in the Hall of Fame. What people do is win a belt and sit on it without fighting anybody. I want fights like my last fight against Zepeda. People said it was a 50-50 fight. I want fights like that.
“I’m good for April 15th,” said Regis when asked if he’d be willing to fight Ryan Garcia on April 15th if the Gervonta Davis mega-bout between him and Kingry fails to happen. “If they tell me right now, ‘April 15th,’ I’ll be good, for sure.
“I knew I was going to get back to this point as a champion. The work that I put in to get to this point, it stays the same,” said Prograis.
