Posted on 08/17/2021
By: Hans Themistode
Regis Prograis is patiently waiting for news on when he’ll re-enter the boxing ring. The former 140-pound titlist and highly rated contender, isn’t sifting through offers on who his next opponent will be. The now 32-year-old is fully aware that a showdown between himself and former four-division champion, Mikey Garcia, is on the table.
But while there doesn’t appear to be any issues in terms of demands from either fighter, Prograis is still very much clueless on when an exact date will be locked in.
“From what I heard, my manager keeps telling me next week, next week, the next 48 hours and all that stuff,” said Prograis during an interview with FightHype.com. “That’s all I know. I know me and him (Mikey Garcia) are supposed to be next but as far as the date, I don’t know.”
Since losing his world title to Josh Taylor during their unification bout in October of 2019, Prograis has gone on to stop his two most recent opponents. Ultimately though, Prograis and his career, have come to a screeching halt, at least for now. In the end, Prograis believes that the reason his team is unable to give him a concrete answer in terms of a fight date, is because they’re waiting on a certain pound-for-pound star to make the first move.
“What’s really going on is the whole Canelo [Alvarez] thing,” continued Prograis. “We really gotta wait on whatever Canelo is doing. Canelo is number one in the sport and he’s the biggest money man basically. My schedule is kind of going around his schedule. We have to find out what’s going on with him.”
Currently, Alvarez is deep in negotiations for an undisputed showdown against IBF super middleweight titlist, Caleb Plant. The two were originally on track to square off in mid-September. That is, until negotiations fell completely through. Now, with the pair patching up their relationship and making headway in terms of a November deal, Prograis is simply twiddling his thumbs as he waits to see how things shake out.
Although both Alvarez and Prograis don’t compete in the same weight class, the Louisiana native knows good and well the star power that the multiple division champion brings to the table. In an effort to move his own fight date away from Alvarez and his overwhelming shadow, Prograis will continue to play the waiting game.
“We don’t want to land at the same time. You want to schedule at the right time. You want to give boxing fans a break. I think me and Mikey is going to be a big fight, a great fight. Canelo, whoever he fights, is going to be a big fight of course, worldwide and it’s going to be a great fight. You want to space it out, that’s what I think. If I was a promoter, you would want to space them out.”