Light welterweight contender Oscar Duarte faces former two-time 140-lb champion Regis Prograis next month in a 12-round headliner on February 15th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The event will be shown live on DAZN.
Stepping Stone
Golden Boy Promotions have picked Prograis as an opponent to be used as a stepping stone for the career of #9 WBA Duarte (28-2-1, 22 KOs), who has looked good since being knocked out in the eighth round by Ryan Garcia on December 2nd, 2023.
If Duarte wins this fight, he’ll get a higher ranking with the World Boxing Association because he’s still far from being in a position to challenge for a world title.
Regis’ Fall
This is a must-win fight for the 35-year-old Prograis (29-3, 24 KOs), as he’s lost two in a row and hasn’t won since 2023. Regis is coming off a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision defeat against Jack Catterall on October 26th in Manchester, England.
The former WBA and WBC light welterweight champion Prograis made a beatable fighter look better than he was in that fight. Before that, Regis lost to Devin Haney by a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision on December 9, 2023.
Prograis needs to recapture his best form from 2015 to 2022. In his losses to Haney and Catterall, Prograis wasn’t pressuring like he had earlier in his career, and it looked like he was afraid of getting hit.
Surprisingly, the light-hitting Catterall dropped Prograis twice in the ninth round, and he looked timid for the remainder of the 12-round fight.
Comeback or Retirement?
If Regis loses to Duarte, he needs to consider retiring because this would make it clear that he has no future. The only way to salvage things would be for Prograis to drop down to 135 to try and reinvent himself. It would be pointless for him to go up to 147 because he’s already shown chin problems at 140.
Duarte is coming off of a 10-round unanimous decision over Botirzhon Akhmedov on November 16th. It was a good fight involving a lot of two-way action. Akhmedov hurt Duarte at one point in the fight and landed many heavy shots. Duarte’s power and strong chin enabled him to get the fight. It wasn’t an easy fight for him, though.
“I understand that inactivity is the death of a fighter. At this point in my career, I want and need to be more active,” said Prograis. “I think this fight has fireworks written all over it. My opponent is a strong, tough and hungry fighter, and it should be a great night in California. I’m excited for this fight and looking forward to next month.”
2025-01-14 19:24:07
