Big Fight Preview: Josh Taylor vs Regis Prograis

Big Fight Preview: Josh Taylor vs Regis Prograis

By Oliver McManus

Unification season begins tonight with a mouthwatering encounter between, WBA and WBC ‘Diamond’ champ, Regis Prograis and, IBF titlist, Josh Taylor.

The match-up, made possible by victories in the World Boxing Super Series, is one of dreams come true; too often this sort of fight has been left ‘to marinate’.

Refreshingly the build-up has passed with seemingly little bad blood but, intriguingly, a distinct clash of cultures.

Prograis and Taylor are contrasting characters with starkly different ways of life. Prograis, born in Louisiana and raised in Houston, Texas, seems to typify the American Dream; Taylor, more subtle and understated, is a trademark Scotsman. Proud tartan through and through.

Put the pair in the ring and similarities come to the fore. Not least for the fact this is one of those rare fights that pit southpaw against southpaw; always an enjoyable spectacle of tactical wit. In fact it is easier to discuss Prograis and Taylor with respect to their shared attributes rather than differences – such is the plurality.

Both men box with sophistication and a genuine respect for the technical side of the sport. They are as capable of boxing on the inside as they are at range; they can take a fight to all corners of the ring or stand on a sixpence and trade. Prograis perhaps packs the more stinging power, 20 knockouts from 24 contests, though Taylor himself hits with brick fists.

It is the Scottish fighter who has found himself taken to task the most in his career thus far. Barry McGuigan has wasted no time in advancing his prized prospect up the rungs of the ladder and understandably so. Against Viktor Postol, Taylor felt the full force of a former world champion – not that the scorecards suggest it. The contest was a squeaker with Postol peppering the body of Taylor with real menace.

Yet The Tartan Tornado weathered the relentless barrage and turned the screw; dropping his opponent in the 10th round.

That served as the ‘gut check’ for Taylor. And it was checked – he has spades of ‘em.

Prograis has yet to have such a task at hand. He hasn’t been tested and prodded in the manner of his counterpart. His professional career since 2012 has been carefully planned, not that Taylor’s hasn’t, with an eye on patient progression. Quite the opposite attitude to Taylor whose precocious amateur record warranted an expedited route to the top.

Instead the Savannah Boxing Club protege spent time in the Convention Center’s of Texas, Houston, Metairie and Baton Rouge to name but a few. An apprenticeship well served as evident from the breeziness with which he’s stepped up to world level: that’s no coincident but perfect design and maneuvering. From Convention Center’s to topping local Showtime events for a junior title and now onto unification – it’s all been mapped out.

He’s impressed against opponents many predicted he should approach with caution; the erratic, wildcard in Julius Indongo was swiftly dealt with in a punishing two rounds; experienced champion Terry Flanagan was out-classed and dropped in the eighth to lose a decision; the awkward, tenacious technician Kiryl Relikh found himself whitewashed in six rounds.

There seems to be something special about the American – a glint in the eye, a refusal to be bettered, call it what you want – and yet his home country have yet to become blindingly in love with him. He is a marketable man: a potential face for the future of American boxing. Heck he’s a face for the NOW of American boxing.

No such doubt, or lack of chest-pounding, heart-thumping love exists for Taylor. He is the adopted son of Scotland and he too is a silky craftsmen. It is stating the obvious but in a contest that is so evenly matched – of the highest level – it really will come down to who ‘turns up’. This is the biggest fight so far in Josh Taylor’s career; it is the biggest so far in Regis Prograis’ career. That’s the way it should be in boxing. No backwards steps.