Promoter Eddie Hearn calls the announced Jack Catterall vs. Regis Prograis clash a “mega-fight for the “division when they meet on August 24th at the Co-Op Live in Manchester, England. The card will be shown live on DAZN.
(Photo credit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)
Can It Live Up to Hearn’s Expectations?
For Catterall-Prograis to live up to Hearn’s expectations of being a “mega-fight,” it’s going to need an excellent undercard filled with top names that the U.S boxing public wants to see.
If Hearn can market the event like crazy, he might be able to turn it into a mega-fight. However, Hearn will have to work his backside off to turn Catterall vs. Prograis into anything resembling a mega-fight because both fighters have their issues.
Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs) lost his last fight, and he’s not someone that fans in the States are excited to see after the way he performed last December and in his previous fight against Danielito Zorrilla. The timing is bad for this fight to be a mega-fight.
“For me, it’s the best fight at 140 outside of the championship fights. I think Jack Catterall has become a real star,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing about the news of Jack Catterall fighting former WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis next on August 24th in Manchester on DAZN.
Catterall’s Style: A Potential Stumbling Block
The styles before Catterall and Prograis could turn this match into a cat-and-mouse affair. Catterall moves and holds a lot when pressured by his opponents, which is not entertaining for fans.
It could be exciting if Catterall revamps his fighting style to become more fan-friendly by standing his ground, resisting his urge to clinch, and throwing power shots. There’s a lot of rabbit in Catterall, and he’s a nightmare to watch without a good cup of strong coffee first.
“He put on a fantastic performance against Josh Taylor in one of the best atmospheres we’ve seen in a British arena for a long time,” said Hearn about Catterall. “He wanted to be active. He spoke to me about fighting for a world title. Liam Paro just won [the IBF 140-lb belt].”
Catterall wanted a title shot against one of the champions at 140 or a title eliminator against Arnold Barboza Jr. Neither of those options was available for him, so now he’s facing the 35-year-old Prograis.
“Teofimo has got a defense coming up [on June 29th]. Devin Haney is sort of in limbo. I said to him, ‘Look, if you want to get active, we want to open up the Co-Op Arena in a big boxing event on August 24th. It’s on your backyard.’ He said, ‘I’ll fight anybody. Just make the biggest fight you can make,’ and We tried with [Arnold] Barboza and they dropped the ball.”
It’s hard to believe that Hearn couldn’t line Catterall up with a title shot against one of the champions at 140, as he promotes IBF belt-holder Liam Paro and HAD a good working relationship with WBC champion Devin Haney.
Surely, Hearn could have worked his magic to line Catterall up for a title shot against one of them, but why didn’t he? Is it because Catterall is viewed as poison for ratings due to his boring style and his recent safety-first clash against Josh Taylor?
“It was literally 24 hours ago in a conversation with Regis Prograis, and he said, ‘I’ll fight Jack Catterall in England. I need a big win. I had a great fight with Josh Taylor there. Let’s do it,’ and we got the fight signed, and it’s a mega-fight for the division, and the card is going to be epic,” said Hearn.
Prograis hasn’t had a lot of options for fights, which is why it’s understandable he jumped at the chance to fight Catterall in Manchester. His career is in a bad spot now due to his loss to Haney.
“The arena is fantastic, and we’ve got another massive night for British boxing on August 24th. It’s very important,” said Hearn.
