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Former WBA junior welterweight champion Regis Prograis 26-1 (22) believes Jack Catterall 26-1 (13) should be the undisputed champion at 140-pounds.
It comes after the 28-year-old Catterall dropped a controversial split decision to WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF champion Josh Taylor 19-0 (13) in Glasgow, Scotland on February 26.
Judge Ian John-Lewis scored the bout 114-111 for Taylor, while judge Victor Loughlin scoring it 113-112 for the champion. Judge Howard Foster has Catterall winning 113-112.
John-Lewis came in for particular scrutiny, with the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) downgrading his judging status following an investigation.
American Prograis, 33, can empathise with Catterall after losing a majority decision to Taylor in the final of the World Boxing Super Series in October 2019.
“I’m not going to lie, I never even thought… when I said I couldn’t get beat, I felt I couldn’t even come close to getting beat,” Prograis said to The National. “So I took a loss. I still think I won the fight, but at the same time, he won the fight. That was Josh Taylor’s night.
“It’s definitely a shame [what happened to Catterall], because right now Catterall should be the undisputed champion at 140. He might never get the opportunity again, for all four belts in one fight.
“I thought I won our fight, but that? Mine was close in London, it could have gone either way, but Catterall? It was a clear victory.
“It’s just sad that somebody like Catterall has worked his whole life to become, not just a champion, but he could’ve been undisputed champion at 140. And it’s just taken away just like that [clicks fingers].”
Prograis’ fight with Taylor was extremely close with the 31-year-old Scotsman edging the fight by scores of 117-112, 115-113 and 114-114. In hindsight, he admits Taylor got into his head before the bout and took him away from his game plan.
“I want to be more of a thinking boxer, more of a boxer instead of a brawler,” Prograis said. “I came up as a brawler; I want to fight, that’s what I want to do. And he kind of got into my head, ‘Let’s fight’. And we just fought for 12 rounds.
“After that, I learnt a lesson: it’s called hit and not be hit. So that’s what I’m working on. Longevity-wise, it’s just being smart and I’m better as a boxer. Of course, I can bring the dog out anytime I need. But it’s called boxing, not fighting.”
Prograis recently signed with fledgling promotional outfit Probellum. His first fight under their banner will be against Tyrone McKenna 22-2-1 (6) at the Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai over 10 rounds this Saturday night.
McKenna is ranked number 11 in the world by both the WBA and WBO. Prograis is ranked WBC number three, WBA number six, IBF number five and WBO number seven.
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