Regis Prograis Sounds Off On WBC And WBA’s Lack Of Recognition!
When it comes to former WBA junior welterweight champion Regis “Rougarou” Prograis (27-1, 23KOs), he seems to be the forgotten man in the weight class. One of the division’s top fighters, the New Orleans native is currently without a big fight opportunity.
After defeating Kiryl Relikh to win the WBA super title in 2019, he would go on to face former undisputed 140-pound champion Josh Taylor (19-0, 13KOs) in the WBSS finale in their highly anticipated unification. Unfortunately for him, he would lose to Taylor by a split decision, resulting in him losing his unbeaten record as well as his WBA title.
Ever since his loss to Taylor, Prograis has been stuck in neutral. He’s yet to fight for another world title or partake in a significant fight. At one point, he was set to face former WBO 140-pound champion Maurice Hooker in April of 2020 before the bout was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, it would be canceled altogether due to Hooker wanting Prograis to face him within the welterweight limit.
Then, in 2021, Prograis was negotiating a fight with former four-division champion Mikey Garcia, but the latter would suffer a shocking defeat against little known Spaniard Sandor Martin (40-2, 13KOs), effectively ending the possibility of the two fighting.
A WORLD TITLE OPPORTUNITY EARNED?
After being forced to fight “middle-of-the-road” opponents, the former WBA champion would face Tyrone McKenna with a WBC mandatory shot on the line. Rougarou would drop and stop McKenna in six rounds, earning the right to fight for the WBC title. However, things have suddenly changed. With Taylor vacating the belt, the WBC has ordered the #1 and #2 ranked contenders, Jose Zepeda and Jose Ramirez, to fight for the title.
Prograis is ranked #3.
This obviously didn’t sit too well with the former champ, as he took to social media to voice his displeasure not only with the WBC but the WBA as well.
“Now y’all tell me this…answer me this right? How are two titles vacant? Two fucking titles are vacant, and I’m not fighting for either one of them. That makes no sense, bruh! I was supposed to fight for the WBA [..] you saw what they did.
“Now the WBC, hmm…they’ve got [Jose] Ramirez and Jose Zepeda fighting each other for the WBC and how I’m not in the mix? First off, my last fight was a mandatory. If you know what mandatory means, that means I’m supposed to be next. I’m supposed to be right there next, right?
“What the fuck is going on, bro? Like for real, what is going on? How am I not fighting for either one of them? That shit is insane, like it makes no sense, that shit is insane bro. I’m at a loss for words, bro. Somebody fix this please! “
As for the WBA title, mandatory challenger Albert Pulleo (20-0, 10KOs) will face #6 ranked contender Batyr Akhmedov (9-1, 8KOs) for the vacant belt. Interestingly, Prograis is ranked higher than Akhmedov, yet he was bypassed.
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By: Jerrell Fletcher
