Going into his fight with Josh Taylor last October, Regis Prograis had been viewed by many boxing pundits as the best junior welterweight in the world.
Prograis ventured across the Atlantic to England to face Taylor in the World Boxing Super Series final, with the winner not only netting the Muhammad Ali trophy but also becoming the unified 140-pound champion and the best in the weight class. But Taylor had other plans in mind, winning by majority decision in one of the best fights of 2019 and giving Prograis the first setback of his career.
One year later, Prograis (24-1, 20 KOs) makes his highly anticipated return when he squares off against Juan Heraldez on Saturday from the Alamodome in San Antonio on the undercard of Gervonta Davis-Leo Santa Cruz. The 31-year-old wants to show everyone who doubts him after the loss to Taylor that regardless of who holds the world title belts, he's still at the top of the heap at 140 pounds.
"This fight is like a chip on my shoulder type of fight," Prograis told DAZN News. "I'm looking to show that I'm still the best in the world at 140. That's the main thing. I still feel like I'm the best in the world at 140. I still feel like I won the fight with Josh Taylor. Right now, they have Josh Taylor ranked as the number one at 140. I still feel like I won that fight. The main thing I want to prove that I am still basically I'm still the best at 140 and then I'm going to be a champion again at 140."
Currently, Taylor is considered the top junior welterweight with fellow unified titlist Jose Ramirez right under him, and then Prograis. Every time Prograis looks at the rankings, it fuels the fire inside "Rougarou" and drives him to reclaim his spot as the top dog.
"It bugs me a lot because I was f—ing number one for a long time," Prograis passionately said. "I was number one in the world. I would open Ring Magazine up, and I was always number one. Now they got Taylor as champion, then Jose Ramirez number one and me number two. It's an eye-opener that I need to be back where I was at. It all kind of goes into the whole conversation of me being back in Houston with my training. That's the main thing. I will be back in that number one spot and just be hungry again and go back to being dominant every time. I was always dominant. I know in the Josh Taylor fight, I wasn't as dominant as I always was. So I have to go out there and be as dominant I was, and I'll be champion at 140 again."
Before Prograis can get another crack at Taylor or meet Ramirez, he takes on the undefeated Heraldez (16-0, 10 KOs). Prograis makes it abundantly clear that he doesn't know much about the 30-year-old but thinks Heraldez is in a no-lose situation against him.
"Not too much," Prograis admitted. "I watched him. I don't think he's on the world championship level. I fought four world champions already. I'm not sure who he fought yet. I don't know. But at the same time, even with that being said, I'm not taking anything from him. I'm training like a f—ing maniac right now. I've been training my ass because I have everything to lose. He has everything to gain. If you lose to me, 'Okay, he was supposed to lose to me. Right'? But if he beats me, they'll be talking about him for a world title shot. I don't know too much about him. But at the same time, I'm training like I've never trained before."