Regis Prograis Likes Idea of Private Island Fights
Since the dark cloud of COVID-19 has hung over the world, there have been a number of grim new realities to get used to. Watching the news has become a chilling daily exercise in helplessly witnessing the numbers of those infected and those who have perished continue to soar. As a result, millions of people all over the globe are locked away in their homes in order to adhere to the numerous self-quarantine guidelines.
Being stuck at home for days and weeks on end has caused quite a bit of anxiousness, irritability and severe cabin fever. People are discovering all over the planet there is only so much Netflix and movies that one can watch before starting a slow descent into madness. Sports fans in particular are acutely affected, having been cut off from any and all live-action sporting functions.
While brainstorming on different solutions to this bedeviling issue, UFC bigwig Dana White recently suggested hosting mixed martial arts matches on a private island. In this theoretical situation, fighters and all necessary the staff and crew, would be tested, confirmed virus-free and then flown out to an isolated island to stage bouts in a controlled studio setting.
CRAZY ENOUGH TO WORK?!
Despite sounding like the plot for a low grade B-movie, at the present moment this does not seem like a horrible idea. As time goes on, and the craving for live sports grows worse, this grand idea will only become more and more appealing to action-starved fans and pay-check-deprived fighters. There are already major boxing figures cozy-ing up the idea.
One such boxing personality is former super lightweight champion Regis “Rougarou” Prograis (24-1, 20 KO’s). While supplying an exclusive interview with AB Boxing News ,Prograis explained how, if handled well, this could be just what the doctor ordered.
“I actually put a post-up the other day, it was like tell Eddie we need to do the same thing. I think we need to do the exact same thing, I mean yeah, it’s a pandemic and you know some people are unemployed, some people don’t have jobs and stuff like that but at the same time everybody is stuck inside. So if you got fighters that’s ready to fight, why not do it? If it’s safe, it’s on a private island, I think they could do it.” ~Regis Prograis, former super lightweight champion
DISCORD IN THE RANKS
Unfortunately for Prograis, Matchroom Boxing promoter and professional liaison, Eddie Hearn thinks that the island fight idea is a deplorable one. For the Matchroom Boxing fight hustler, attempting to stage a prizefight right now is no less than a villainous idea. In his estimation, the one and only thing that should be on people’s minds is getting the virus under control.
“But even I wouldn’t consider staging an event right now. I’m not even thinking about options, not even on the radar. This is stubbornness. These are many of the things that make him [Dana White] successful, but at some point you have to sit back and say ‘white flag’. I’m quite surprised ESPN are going ahead with this, obviously they want ratings and money. But with Sky Sports and DAZN, I would not be allowed to stage events right now. It’s bad taste to be quite honest.” ~Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Boxing promoter
Clearly, Hearn and Prograis have conflicting view points on the matter.
“Whoever does that first is going to start something basically. If Dana White does it, he is definitely going to start something. So hopefully somebody does it because it’s going to be a wave of people because all the promoters are losing money right now. So why not? If you got fighters that are healthy and ready to fight and you can bring them on a private island, let’s do it!” ~Regis Prograis, former super lightweight champion
In the meantime we will all have to just keep our eyes on Dana White to see if does go through with the experimental island fight. If he does, and its successful, like Prograis said this may just open the flood gates for more combat sporting events to take place.
By: Bakari Simpson
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