FOR those unacquainted with the work of Regis Prograis, the native of New Orleans helpfully described himself last night as a “dangerous mother f*****”, writes Stewart Fisher. So perhaps it was appropriate that the unbeaten WBA world champion should pick holes in Josh Taylor’s world-title winning performance and promise to exploit those weaknesses when the pair get together again around September with the IBF, WBA, and Ring Magazine super lightweight titles on the line - not to mention the Muhammad Ali trophy.
Good-naturedly wearing a kilt in the post-fight interviews after travelling to Glasgow to take in the fight, he seemed to row back on the ringside hint he would be travelling back to Scotland for the World Boxing Super Series final. While a return to a raucous SSE Hydro shouldn’t be discounted, Prograis would prefer a neutral venue such as Tokyo.
While there have been some outlandish venues for WBSS finals – last year’s George Groves-Callum Smith contest took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – the competition’s co-founder Nisse Sauerland would say only that commercial considerations would be paramount. “The venue will be a big decision but of course it will be where it makes most commercial sense,” Sauerland said.
“That was an excellent performance from Josh Taylor,” was Prograis’ take on things. “But he still took a lot of punches that he wasn’t supposed to take. I see ways I could hurt Josh. He took a lot of big shots from Baranchyk – but I hit a lot harder than Baranchyk.
“It was a terrific atmosphere, man,” added the American, who has a perfect 24 wins, 20 of them by way of knockout, to his name. “The Glasgow crowd was awesome. I know I said in the ring that maybe I would come back here … but we’ll see. Maybe it would be better in the States. Because, while Josh has a big fan base, I’ve got a big support back home, too. So maybe put it in a neutral place. But let’s see what we can do.”
Whatever the venue, Prograis has had plenty of time to get his head around the idea of taking on Taylor. Back when the WBSS draw was confirmed in Moscow some 12 months ago, he had predicted that he and Taylor would be the last two standing. “I always thought it would be me against Josh in the final,” he said. “Right back when we went to Moscow at the very start to do the pairings, I always felt like it was going to be me and him. We’re the best two in the division, by far. So we were always going to be the last two standing. If we weren’t going to fight each other I think me and him would be pay per view in three years. It’s the best fighting the best and that’s why it’s perfect. It’s going to be me and him so I can’t wait.”
While Taylor has the background in Tae Kwon Do, Prograis gets his kicks from Ju-Jitsu. “It’s not about making me stronger for boxing or anything like that,” he said. “I just like doing it, to be honest. I just want to be a dangerous mother f*****. So I do it to be more dangerous than I already am! I saw a lot of holes and you can’t be like that for me, I told him that in the ring - we’ll see.”
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