Jack Catterall scored a pair of knockdowns en route to a clear, unanimous decision victory over faded former titlist Regis Prograis today in Manchester.
Catterall improved to 30-1 (13 KO) on scores of 116-109, 116-109, and 117-108. Bad Left Hook unofficially scored the fight 116-109 for Catterall.
The 31-year-old Catterall put Prograis (29-3, 24 KO) down two times in the ninth round, both hard and significant knockdowns, while Prograis did score his own knockdown of Catterall in the fifth round. That one saw Catterall’s glove touch the canvas, and was a fair call, but it was not a knockdown equal to the two to come against the American.
Neither Catterall nor Prograis, 35, looked much like world-beaters in this fight, but if you look at the 140 lb landscape, it’s not bursting with world-beaters, either, and Catterall is as viable as anyone for a world title shot in his recent form. It wasn’t really an action fight, though it also wasn’t boring once things picked up around the midway point — from there, it became oddly entertaining, a little sloppy, and Catterall cautiously and competently took the fight from the less consistent Prograis.
For Prograis, this is a second straight loss and his third straight performance where you can see time having taken its toll on his style, but in some ways he looked better in this one than he did against Devin Haney or even in his win over Danielito Zorrilla. There will be fights for him still, and a call to face rising UK contenders Dalton Smith or Adam Azim in 2025 wouldn’t be a surprise. He’s past his best, and he’s not getting that back, but there’s still going to be value in him as a known but faded name to serve as a gatekeeper for younger fighters who have big ambition.
Undercard
- Jimmy Joe Flint UD-10 Campbell Hatton: Scores were 96-95, 96-94, and 97-94. Once again, Hatton (14-2, 5 KO) just comes up short against Flint (15-2-2, 3 KO), who has now handed Hatton both of his professional losses. Hatton is a tough kid who fights hard and fights hungry, fights to the best of his ability, but his ability is just limited. He’s had good training, he’s obviously had real management and chances to prove himself, and he’s given this his best all the time. Some promoters might argue it’s a “matchmaking” issue that Hatton has two losses, but some promoters are more open than others about their quest to build padded, phony records that don’t really reflect quality. The issue Hatton has is that he’s just not quite good enough, but it’s not lack of effort or grit.
- Pat McCormack UD-10 Williams Herrera: McCormack (6-0, 4 KO) hadn’t fought in 15 months and had a little rust here, but it wasn’t competitive or anything, as he rightly swept the cards, 100-90 from all three judges. Most annoying for McCormack could be the fact he got cut late in the bout on a clash of heads. Herrera drops to 16-4 (7 KO).
- Junaid Bostan TKO-3 Maico Sommariva: Body shot put Sommariva (9-5-1, 8 KO) down, and though he got up, it was stopped there. The 22-year-old Bostan (10-0, 8 KO) is a legit middleweight prospect, but lots of steps to go, obviously.