Bare Knuckle may have its next superstar arriving in the form of another former boxing world champion.
On Saturday, October 26th, Regis Prograis and Jack Catterall faced off in a 12-round main event for the vacant WBO International Super Lightweight title. Prograis was in tough with the surging Catterall, getting dropped twice en route to losing a unanimous decision. The result is the second loss in a row for the now 35-year-old, both coming against world-class talent, as he suffered another decision loss to Devin Haney in December of last year. But don’t worry, you’re not on the wrong website. The reason Bare Knuckle Nation is so interested in this bout is because of what happened after.
A very gracious Prograis took to the microphone after the fight giving all kinds of props to the winner Catterall, before giving a very honest and insightful statement about his current standing in the boxing world.
“I had my time in the sun…now it might be time to go to bare knuckle or something. Obviously, I’ll go talk to my team and stuff but, I think maybe 12 rounds might be too much for me, I started fading in the late rounds. I hurt my knee, I hurt my ankle…It’s because it’s just getting too long I think. So now I think I’ll go to bare knuckle, do something else, and let the young guys take over.”
He mentioned going to bare knuckle, not once, but twice in the same statement. To me, that makes me think it's something he’s thought about before and that he means it. He also mentioned the 12-round fights are too much for him physically at this point in his career. Looking at both BKFC with 5x2 min rounds, and BYB with a maximum of 7x3 min rounds, bare knuckle does seem like a great alternative.
This could be a massive signing for either of the North American bare knuckle organizations. A two-time boxing world champion will immediately bring eyes to whatever promotion he chooses. In terms of fit, with 24 of his 29 boxing wins coming by KO, bare knuckle could have its next superstar. Fighting almost all of his career at 140-lbs, he could stay at that weight and compete with Harry Gigliotti for a world title in BYB’s Mighty Trigon. Or he could take the extra five pounds and put himself next up for a fight with the winner of BKFC Featherweight Champ Kai Stewart vs. Jimmie Rivera, set to face off in early November.
Whether he sticks around in boxing for a few more fights or is serious about moving to bare knuckle for his next fight, this should create some more buzz around the sport. And for Prograis, once you get the bare knuckle itch, there's only one way to scratch it.
Photo's Courtesy of Mark Robinson of Matchroom Boxing.
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