By: Sean Crose
Regis Prograis the 29-2 former world titlist, came up short trying to rejuvenate his career Saturday in Manchester England. For the 29-1 Jack Catterall was able to get off the mat and deliver a decisive and successful 12 round performance. The match, was not without its thrilling moments.
Prograis began by employing his herky-jerky style while Catterall tried maintaining range and shooting out his southpaw jab. Catterall was able to successfully fight off his back foot in the second, which kept Prograis from landing clean. With that being said, both fighters were patient and unwilling to risk making a mistake so early in the fight.
Each man remained patient in the third. Indeed, Catterall appeared to be too patient, as Prograis was the fighter pressing the action. Still, the Englishman managed to land effectively at round’s end. With more caution being showcased, the bout was threatening to become downright boring. Things got sloppy, but more interesting, in the fifth, as Prograis and Catterall grappled away what was becoming inertia.
Indeed, Prograis dropped Catterall in the final portion of the round. Only Catterall’s glove hit the canvas, but the referee made the right call. Suffice to say, Catterall was almost immediately able to continue fighting. Things got exciting in the sixth, as the combatants began to exchange leather. Prograis applied a high volume of pressure in the seventh, although he now had a cut on the left eye.
Prograis went down in the first minute of the 8th curtesy of a slip. Getting up quickly, he resumed pressuring Catterall, the two men eventually dropping to the mat after having tangled each other up. Prograis went down again from a slip in the ninth. He got up, but Catterall was then able to put him on the mat legitimately with a powerful left.
Prograis beat the count, but he was clearly rattled. Sure enough, Catterall put him down again at the end of the round. Once more, Prograis beat the count, but he was in trouble of losing the fight. By the tenth, it was Catterall who was applying pressure. Prograis was no longer looking his best. Prograis tried fighting on gamely in the eleventh, but the intensely focused Catterall kept looking sharp.
The twelfth and final round saw the fighters continue to give it their all. Prograis fell to the mat yet again as he wildly threw at the man on the verge of defeating him. Needless to say, Catterall got the unanimous decision nod from the judges after the final round had sounded.