Regis Prograis Shows He Can Serve Up Some Moves as Well as Power

Published

1 year ago

October 28, 2018

Former WBO lightweight champion “Turbo” Terry Flanagan had predicted he would give Regis “Rougarou” Prograis a “boxing lesson.” Prograis, the top-seeded entrant in the eight-fighter World Boxing Super Series for 140-pounders, had vowed that he would “definitely win by knockout.” No surprise there; the big hitting southpaw from New Orleans had won his last eight bouts and 16 of his most recent 17 ring appearances inside the distance.

Turns out both men’s crystal balls were just a bit fogged. No, Prograis (23-0, 19 KOs) did not deliver the emphatic stoppage he had promised his hometown fans in the University of New Orleans’ Lakefront Arena, but he did become the first fighter to floor Flanagan (33-2, 13 KOs) when he landed an overhand left that sent the Englishman to the canvas in the eighth round. Although Prograis could not close the show then or in the subsequent four rounds with another exclamation point, it was he, not Flanagan, who served up a masterful boxing performance to come away with a wide unanimous decision and advance to the WBSS semifinals, where he will face WBA champion Kiryl Relikh (23-2) of Belarus. Relikh won his quarterfinal on a 12-round unanimous decision over Russia’s Eduard Troyanovsky (27-2, 24 KOs) on Oct. 19 in Yokahama, Japan.

“It was super-special,” Prograis proclaimed after he had schooled fellow lefthander Flanagan in the DAZN-televised main event Saturday night by yawning margins of 119-108, 118-109 and 117-111 on the official scorecards. “Just like I always say, I want to bring big-time boxing back to New Orleans. And guess what? I did it. And look, we gonna do it again! The WBSS, we’re going to bring it back, right? We’re coming right back to New Orleans again!”

While it is Relikh who figures to be served up Prograis’ special recipe for pugilistic gumbo at some yet-to-be-determined date in the Big Easy, Prograis’ opponent in the finale, should both fighters advance that far, might have been on display in Saturday’s co-feature bout, which also was a WBSS quarterfinal. Strong but rough-around-the-edges Ivan “The Beast” Baranchyk (19-0, 12 KOs) was awarded a seventh-TKO victory over Sweden’s Anthony “Can You Dig It” Yigit (21-1-1, 7 KOs) at the conclusion of the seventh round when referee Phil Edwards, acting on the advice of the ring physician, called a halt to the proceedings because of the severity of the hematoma that had turned Yigit’s completely closed left eye into an ugly, purple mass of swollen flesh. Baranchyk, who claimed the vacant IBF junior welterweight championship, advances to the other semifinal, where he will face the winner of the Nov. 3 matchup of Josh Taylor (13-0, 11 KOs) and Cleveland’s Ryan Martin (22-0, 12 KOs) in Taylor’s hometown of Glasgow, Scotland. Taylor is favored to get past Martin, and then probably against Baranchyk, but likely would not be, were he to square off against Prograis.

Tournaments such as the WBSS are increasingly gaining favor as a means of thinning the herd of contenders in a particular weight class, bringing some semblance of order to a sport where chaos is normally the rule rather than the exception. The concept was launched with great success in the cruiserweight division in 2017, when Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk fully unified the titles by defeating three quality opponents, including Russia’s Murat Gassiev in the July 21, 2018, finale, in the process announcing himself as a factor in any pound-for-pound conversations. The companion super middleweight tournament, which also began in 2017, ended with England’s Callum Smith surviving a three-bout gauntlet to take top honors.

The WBSS’ super lightweight – or junior welterweight, if you prefer – tourney can’t be as conclusive as was the case with the cruiserweights, because WBC champion Jose Carlos Ramirez (23-0, 16 KOs) is not involved. Because Ramirez holds the “real” WBC 140-pound title, Prograis was reduced to defending his secondary WBC Diamond, or interim, belt against Flanagan. But like Usyk, Prograis sees the WBSS as an express lane to possible superstardom and a place at the pound-for-pound table, and he did no disservice to his quest by being required to go beyond eight rounds as a pro for the first time in his career.

Flanagan, who had defended his WBO lightweight championship five times before stepping up to super lightweight and dropping a split decision to Maurice Hooker in Flanagan’s hometown of Manchester, is a savvy veteran who incorrectly had pegged Prograis as a mostly one-dimensional slugger who would get frustrated were he to find himself in the kind of tactical bout the New Orleanian usually tries to avoid. But Prograis showed himself to be more polished than he is generally given credit for.

“He’s a beast. He likes to mix it up,” Prograis’ trainer, Bobby Benton, had said of his charge’s preference for getting down ’n’ dirty. But all boxing matches do not present the same challenges, and Prograis seemed pleased to reveal another side of himself.

Was Prograis surprised, and maybe a little disappointed, when he couldn’t get Flanagan out of there after he floored and hurt him in the eighth round?

“I wasn’t really surprised,” he said in his distinctive N’Awlins patois. “(But) I really wasn’t worried about it. When you drop somebody and they’re hurt, they are even more dangerous. I knew he was still gonna be dangerous. He had a little power.

“I went out there and I wanted to box. I boxed my ass off. Most people say I can’t box, I can’t do this, I can’t do that, I only got power. Now I showed you I can go 12 rounds with a world-class fighter. I had fun. I’m in there havin’ fun. It was all fun to me.”

The good times should continue for Prograis – who has the kind of back story, as a literal orphan of the storm, having hurriedly relocated from New Orleans to Houston with his family as a 16-year-old to escape 2005’s Hurricane Katrina – should he defeat Relikh and whomever makes it to the WBSS title bout. His confidence is rising faster than had the floodwaters of Katrina, which submerged large swaths of New Orleans, which he always will call home even though he continues to reside in Houston.

“I’m fast. I’m strong. I hit real hard. I don’t see nobody beating me,” he said. “It don’t matter who the hell I fight. I’m gonna win the whole thing. The Muhammad Ali Trophy (which goes to the WBSS winner) mine.”

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Boxing Odds and Ends: Ramirez-Postol, Taylor-Serrano and More

Published

22 hours ago

January 24, 2020

Arne K. Lang

Boxing-Odds-and-Ends-Ramirez-Postol-Taylor-Serrano-and-More

It takes a strong constitution to be a boxing promoter because things always go wrong. The only law that governs boxing is Murphy’s Law.

Carl Frampton’s first fight under the Top Rank banner was slated for Aug. 10 of last year in Philadelphia. With the fight five days away, Frampton suffered a freak injury while sitting in a hotel lobby. A boy playing behind a curtain knocked over a seven-foot pillar which fell on Frampton’s left hand, fracturing it.

This was the second time that a Frampton fight was knocked out by a freak injury. Two years earlier, a homecoming fight in Belfast had to be scrapped when Frampton’s opponent, Andres Gutierrez, slipped in the shower in his hotel on the eve of the battle and suffered severe facial injuries.

The latest bout to fall out because of an odd development is Jose Ramirez’s Feb. 2 WBC/WBO lightweight title defense against Viktor Postol at a Chinese golf resort south of Hong Kong. The event fell victim to the coronavirus, more exactly the fear it has instilled.

The virus, which produces flu-like symptoms that are resistant to conventional antibiotics, apparently originated at an outdoor food market in the city of Wuhan where live animals are sold. The numbers vary with each new story, but according to one account there have been 444 confirmed cases in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital city, and 653 cases worldwide including two in the United States, a man in his 30’s living near Seattle and a Chicago woman in her 60’s.

The fear of a pandemic (an epidemic becomes a pandemic when it spreads across multiple geographic regions of the world) has led to some drastic measures. The Chinese government has reportedly put 12 cities on lockdown, blocking traffic in and out. At many airports, visitors arriving from China are being screened. There are now thermal cameras than can record a person’s body temperature remotely.

Jose Ramirez (pictured with his promoter Bob Arum) was scheduled to leave for China yesterday (Jan. 23) but was intercepted. Viktor Postol is already there and apparently stranded until an outgoing flight can be arranged.

The Ramirez-Postol fight was to air on ESPN. No make-up date has been set.

– – –

British promoter Eddie Hearn says he’s close to finalizing a fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano. Hearn says the fight will take place in the U.S. in April. It figures that Madison Square Garden is the frontrunner.

If the fight comes off on schedule, this will be the biggest women’s fight in history!

That’s because the odds attached to the fight figure to be in the “pick-‘em” range and that guarantees that boxing writers and others in the boxing community will be surveyed to get their picks – about which there figures to be considerable disagreement – and that will greatly enhance the pre-fight buzz.

Taylor, 33, last fought in November in Manchester, England, advancing her record to 15-0 (6 KOs) with a unanimous decision over Christina Linardatou, a fighter from Greece via the Dominican Republic. It was Taylor’s first fight at 140 after previously unifying the lightweight title with a hard-fought decision over Belgium’s Delfine Persoon.

Amanda Serrano, a 31-year-old southpaw, born in Puerto Rico and raised in Brooklyn, has won titles in five weight divisions. She last fought as a featherweight, turning away gritty Heather Hardy, but has competed as high as 140. Boasting a 37-1-1 record, she’s won 23 straight, 18 by stoppage, 10 in the opening round

What sets women boxers apart from their male counterparts is that the women have a significantly lower knockout ratio. Amanda Serrano is the glaring exception.

Despite a less eye-catching record, Taylor has arguably fought the stiffer competition considering her extensive amateur background. As a pro, her victims include Cindy Serrano, Amanda’s older sister by six years. Taylor whitewashed her in a match at Boston Garden, prompting the elder Serrano sister to call it a career.

– – –

The most bizarre (non)story to appear in a boxing web site this week involved former unified heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe. A man representing Bowe, identified as Eli Karabell, was frustrated because Eddie Hearn wasn’t returning his calls. Karabell had offered Hearn the right of first refusal on Bowe’s next fight.

Bowe, now 51 years old, last fought in a boxing ring in 2008 when he returned to the sport after a three-and-half year absence for an 8-round bout in Germany. In 2013, he appeared in a kickboxing fight in Thailand where he was stopped in the second round after being knocked down five times by leg kicks.

“Will there be another chapter to write for Bowe?” concluded the author of this piece.

Egads, let’s hope not.

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Boxing Odds and Ends: Crawford, Canelo, Caleb Plant and More

Published

2 days ago

January 23, 2020

Arne K. Lang

Boxing Odds and Ends: Crawford, Canelo, Caleb Plant and More

Although a lot of disinformation comes out of the mouths of boxing promoters, Bob Arum was apparently serious when he broached the idea of a two-fight series between Terence Crawford and Conor McGregor, the first fight to be conducted under MMA rules and the second under boxing rules.

Crawford is amenable. “I just have to have the proper time to prepare myself,” he told ESPN’s Dan Rafael. “…I haven’t been in that (wrestling) environment in a long time, but most definitely I feel I can compete with anyone given the proper time to train on the MMA side, being that I have a wrestling background.”

Crawford, 32, last wrestled in middle school so he would certainly need a refresher course. However, he would have a better chance of defeating Conor McGregor in an MMA match than McGregor would have of defeating him in a boxing match. So, if Arum’s proposed two-fight series ever comes off, the tailpiece may be unnecessary.

– – –

As first reported by ESPN’s Steve Kim, Andy Ruiz Jr. has dumped trainer Manny Robles. According to Kim’s report, Ruiz’s father informed Robles of the decision and said it was Al Haymon’s idea.

Andy Ruiz appears to be one of those people that can gain weight just looking at food. He weighed 297 ½ pounds for his pro debut at age 19, carried 268 pounds for his first meeting with Anthony Joshua, and ballooned up to 283 ½ for the rematch after leading reporters to believe that he had actually slimmed down for the sequel.

Ruiz, noted Kim, went from a feel-good story to a cautionary tale in just six months.

– – –

Who ya’ gonna believe?

A certain disreputable web site, bragging that it had an exclusive, told its readers that Canelo Alvarez had settled on Billy Joe Saunders as his next opponent and that they would meet on Cinco de Mayo in Las Vegas. The next day, Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, a far more trustworthy source, reported that Ryota Murata had emerged as the frontrunner and that negotiations were underway to stage the fight in Japan.

Perhaps it makes sense for Canelo to promote his brand in a new market. However, if he fights Murata, who holds a WBA belt, he would reportedly be dropping back to 160 and at age 29 he appears to have outgrown the weight class.

Stay tuned.

– – –

If Caleb Plant were an NBA player, his name would be Kevin Love. Plant, who recently married FOX/PBC reporter Jordan Hardy, is the only U.S.-born, non-Hispanic white person among the various champions in the 17 weight divisions.

Plant, who hails from tiny Ashland City, Tenn. (23 miles from Nashville) defends his IBF super middleweight title on Feb. 15 at Nashville’s 20,000-seat Bridgestone Arena. In the opposite corner will be Germany’s Vincent Feigenbutz who will be making his U.S. debut.

The 24-year-old Feigenbutz, who turned pro at age 16, has won 10 straight and 30 of his last 31. He represents a big step up in class from Plant’s last opponent, Mike Lee, who was in way over his head.

– – –

A sad note from South Africa: Five days after the death of trailblazer Peter Mathebula, his widow, Emma Gabaitsiwe Mathebula, died suddenly of an apparent heart attack. Peter Mathebula’s funeral, originally set for Saturday, has been pushed back until Tuesday and will now be a joint funeral.

Mathebula, who won the WBA world flyweight title in 1980, basically died a pauper, having sold all of his boxing memorabilia to keep his head above water. His heirs had reached out to the government for assistance in defraying the costs of his burial.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 82: Jason Quigley Returns to SoCal and More

Published

3 days ago

January 22, 2020

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-82-Jason-Quigley-Returns-to-SoCal-and-More

Southern California prizefighting heats up with Jason Quigley headlining a fight card in Orange County and then, two days later, another fight card takes place in the heart of Los Angeles.

Ireland’s Quigley (17-1, 13 KOs) faces Mexico’s Fernando Marin (16-4-3, 12 KOs) on Thursday Jan. 23, at the OC Hangar in Costa Mesa, Calif. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions fight card live.

Quigley, 28, seeks to reclaim territory lost when he suffered a defeat last July against Tureano Johnson. Ironically, Marin would lose 10 days later in Hollywood to super welterweight contender Serhii Bohachuk.

For several years Quigley had trained in Southern California but decided to change trainers and location. He moved to Great Britain and still prepares near his native country but primarily fights in the U.S.

At one time Quigley clamored for a match against Gennady “GGG” Golovkin or Saul “Canelo” Alvarez but now finds himself trying to prove he belongs in the upper tier of the middleweight division. It’s loaded with talent.

Also on the same fight card will be popular North Hollywood super welterweight Ferdinand Kerobyan who was headed to contender status when he ran into Blair “the Flair” Cobbs. At the time Cobbs was an unknown quantity but no longer.

Kerobyan (13-1, 8 KOs) meets Azael Cosio (21-8-2) in an eight-round clash in the semi-main event at OC Hangar. Doors open at 5 p.m.

Red Boxing International

On Saturday Jan. 27, Red Boxing International hosts its first boxing card of the year at Leonardo’s Night Club located at 6617 Wilson Ave. L.A. 90001. Doors open at 5 p.m.

Super welterweight Bryan Flores (13-1, 6 KOs) meets Brandon Baue (15-17) in the main event in the first event of the year for the ambitious promotion company. For the past two years Flores fought primarily in Tijuana, Mexico where he racked up six wins. Now he’s back on Southern California soil.

Another match features lightweights Angel Israel Rodriguez (5-0) facing off against Braulio Avila (3-6) in a six-round fight.

Rodriguez fights out of Pico Rivera, Calif. but recently fought in Costa Rica where he won by first round knockout in November. He will be fighting Avila who just fought two weeks ago at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif.

It’s a long fight card with 11 bouts on the schedule.

JRock and Rosario

Boxing fans received another lesson on never underestimating a ranked contender regardless of the name recognition.

Jeison Rosario knocked out Julian “J Rock” Williams who was making the first defense of the WBA and IBF super welterweight world titles he won last year in my selection as “Fight of the Year.”

Rosario walked in with little recognition and was thought to be a soggy piece of bread for Williams. The long armed Dominican fighter walloped Williams in front of his hometown fans in Philadelphia. It was yet another warning for fans to understand that anyone who steps in the boxing ring ranked as a contender can do the unthinkable. In this case Rosario knocked out the champion in five rounds.

Many felt Williams was far too skilled, especially on the inside where he showcased those skills last May against former titlist Jarret Hurd. It was a remarkable display of the art of inside fighting. But against Rosario, he never got a chance to exhibit those skills.

The loaded super welterweight division has another dangerous champion in Rosario.

Fights to Watch

Thurs. 6 p.m. DAZN – Jason Quigley (17-1) vs Fernando Marin (16-4-3).

Sat. 6 p.m. Showtime – Danny Garcia (35-2) vs Ivan Redkach (23-4-1).

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