WBC junior welterweight world champion, Regis Prograis has a chip on his shoulder. The initial press conference for the pay-per-view fight between himself and Devin Haney took place at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California to promote their upcoming December 9th bout, and if you didn’t know any better one might have assumed Haney was the champion.
Prograis armed with his world title belt over his shoulder as if not just an accolade, but a reminder of the respect he commands, seemed to be second for everything - media attention, the microphone, and even his name on the poster. Prograis had the smaller media scrums, and yet - when the two faced off it seemed like Prograis smelled blood in the water as he was a bit more livid than usual.
Prograis spoke to ProBox TV News about this fight, and some of his thoughts leading into his first U.S. pay-per-view.
“Everyone is billing this as skills versus power” stated Prograis on Tuesday afternoon inside the Chase Center. “No this is not going to be skills versus power. This is going to be skills versus skills, and of course, I can put out somebody, I have power, too, but I am [promoting this] as skills versus skills. So everybody saying I just have power I want to show people that is the plateau I got over.”
Prograis also felt as though the road he has taken has been much tougher than Devin Haney’s which seemingly he feels has been more curated and orchestrated than his.
“For my first ten fights I fought for like zero dollars,” reflected Prograis on how his mentality is much different than Haney as he looked back on the adversity in the boxing industry that shaped him. “Then I became a champion, then I became a two-time champion, and stuff like that. I have had a hard ass road, bro and it is the same thing going on right now, so I am used to it. I got a chip on my shoulder and [it is] strong."
Regis Prograis, originally from New Orleans, has relocated to Houston after Hurricane Katrina and now is looking to make the second defense of his world title. The two-time world champion in the junior welterweight division hears the whispers. Some doubt that Prograis is still what he once was. Have hard fights against Josh Taylor, and Jose Zepeda, and a tough road to the world-class level facing multiple undefeated fighters like Abel Ramos, the uncle of Jesus Ramos Jr., to become the fighter that he now is, worn him down? In short, has Father Time caught up to Prograis?
Prograis explained his last performance as such.
“I had to keep fighting [really tough fights] where I was basically - the underdog,” told Prograis to ProBox TV News directly. “That was the thing in New Orleans [his last fight against Danielito Zorrilla], I was just expected to knock this dude out. I am just expected to do this, but when you are the underdog there is no pressure. There is no pressure on me, the pressure is on [Haney] if he feels it. Maybe he does maybe he doesn’t, but I am pretty sure he is human, and he will feel it. Then he has to get in there with me. Yeah, it is better for me to be the underdog.
