British super lightweight contender Jack Catterall and American contender Regis Prograis headlined a Matchroom show last Saturday on October 26 at the Manchester Arena in Manchester. The two battled to a full twelve rounds in an exciting bout that Catterall went on to eventually win.

Jack Catterall (30-1, 13 KO’s) and Regis Prograis (29-3, 24 KO’s) both had a lot to prove with the former looking to establish himself as a world title contender, while Prograis was coming off a loss to former WBC super lightweight (140 lbs) champion Devin Haney (31-1, 15 KO’s) nearly a year prior and was heavily in need of a win to resurrect his career.

The fight was more competitive than anticipated, with Prograis’ lack of activity over the last 10 months and defeat having given a sense of anticipation that he would not fight at full throttle. However, the American surprised from the opening bell as he threatened Catterall with his offensive arsenal, particularly his right hand.

Caught in a competitive bout, the best would drawn from within Jack Catterall as he used a combination of his ring IQ and skillset to offset Regis Prograis who was starting to pressure him heavily. The earlier half of the fight was therefore quite even, with Prograis arguably taking most of the rounds by a slim margin after managing to knock down Catterall in the 5th round. This was partially due to Prograis’ own ring IQ and experience, giving Catterall plenty to think about when it came towards defending himself properly.

However, the latter half went largely in favor of Jack Catterall who had figured out Prograis’ patterns at that point. A combination of slick boxing and solid defense ensued, and Catterall brought out his full arsenal to eventually dominate Prograis. This was especially evident in the 9th round where Catterall, through his well-timed shots, critically knocked down Prograis twice to shift the fight in his favor.

The rest of the rounds, including the last three championship rounds, would be a showcase of Catterall visibly proving his potential as a world title contender as he would go on to win every round quite dominantly.

Following the 12 rounds, Catterall was announced the winner by unanimous decision (UD) with judges’ scorecards of 116-109 twice, and 117-108. Catterall won the vacant WBO International title as a result of his victory.

Already considered a top contender prior to the fight, Jack Catterall now has established himself as a surefire world title contender following a match where he beat a former world champion for the second time in a row. While there were hickups during the match, particularly the knockdown the British fighter suffered in the 5th round, Catterall has shown resilience, willpower, skill and ring intelligence―ideal traits that make him suited to engage in a world title fight in the near future.

Regis Prograis, however, may be on the downslide of his career at this point following his second defeat in a row, and retirement may be on the cards after the American 140-pounder’s most recent interview following his loss.

“[I was] emotional after the fight so you always going to say a bunch of different things,” Prograis told Boxing King Media, referring to his post-match interview where he hinted at retirement.

“And everyone [knows] about me―I change my mind every three seconds so tomorrow it’ll be different, next week it’ll be something different, next month it’ll be something different.

“I have been wanting to do bareknuckle [boxing] for a long time, that’s something I really want to do. But, at the same time, maybe I’ll give it a try at 147 [lbs]. I’ve been at 140 [lbs] my whole career and I’m getting older. I always wanted to put on weight and I stayed at 140 for a long time, so maybe it might be time to go up to 147. But at the same time, we’ll see.“

With Prograis aspirations seeming to linger between diving into bareknuckle boxing, which might see him compete at Bareknuckle Boxing Fighting Championship in the near future. A move up towards welterweight (147 lbs) also appears a possibility for Prograis―though that move is as fraught with opportunity as it is with danger with the quality of all the current four champions in the 147 lbs division.

Undercard Results:

The most prevalent bout on the undercard was the 140 lbs bout between British fighters James Flint (15-2-2, 3 KO’s) and Campbell Hatton (14-2, 5 KO’s)―the son of Hall of Famer Ricky Hatton.

With Hatton having suffered his first career loss to Flint during his last match, their rematch was a tense affair with both fighters having their own motivations to seek a victory. However, despite the competitiveness of the bout, it would be Flint who would come out on top after 10 rounds, winning a UD with only one or two rounds separating a victory for Hatton or draw based on the judges’ scores of 97-94, and 96-95―all in favor of Flint.

Hatton, the scion of a well-known boxing family, is still young at his age of 23 and has enough time to rebuild his career. However, any notion of Hatton having the potential to fight at the world level has now seemingly been dispelled, and the British prospect will need to prove he has what it takes to even challenge for a title going forward.

For James Flint, his reputation has soared following two decisive victories over a highly-touted prospect in Hatton, but the 27-year old is facing an uphill battle when it comes to challenging for a world title himself given the competition available. Despite his victory, it is unlikely Flint will be able to defeat the likes of Dalton Smith (16-0, 12 KO’s)―another British 140-pounder currently signed to Matchroom like Jack Catterall and Ricky Hatton.

Only time will tell if Flint will surprise by getting into the mix to be considered a viable contender similar to fellow British contenders Catterall and Smith.