Regis Prograis vs. Oscar Duarte is set to fight on February 15th in Anaheim, California. Former two-time welterweight champion Prograis (29-3-, 24 KOs) is looking to snap a two-game losing streak to turn things around.
Prograis is taking a risk by fighting the powerful striker Duarte, 28, but he doesn’t have much choice. He is too old to slowly work his way back to the top of the welterweight rankings. He must defeat the best possible fighters available to him in order to get another chance.
Twilight years
Regis is coming off a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Jack Catterall on October 26 in Manchester, England.
Catterall isn’t known as a big hitter, but he dropped Prograis twice in the ninth round, and seemed hesitant to attack in the championship rounds after that. The cores were 116-1-0, 117-108 and 116-109.
Prior to that fight, Prograis lost to Devin Haney via 12-round unanimous decision on December 9, 2023 and was knocked out in the third round. It seems Regis’ resistance to impact isn’t what it used to be.
Lance Pugmire, @pugboxing, is reporting at the Prograis-Duarte fight on February 15. That’s a big deal for Regis, who went from 140 being viewed as the No. 1 guy to many fans seeing him as over the hill.
This is an important fight for Prograis, 35, because he cannot afford to keep losing fights like he has been lately. He wants to become a three-time world champion at 140, but that doesn’t look good for him with the way he keeps getting beat up.
Golden Boy-promoted Duarte (28-2-1, 22 KOs) has looked impressive recently, defeating Botirzhon Akhmedov and Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz in back-to-back fights since being knocked out in the eighth round by Ryan Garcia in December 2023.
Unless Prograis makes dramatic improvements before February 15, he will lose to Duarte and will likely be stopped if he can’t handle the Mexican striker’s power.
