Jack Catterall has endured yet another delay in his career.
This time around, it’s the top-rated junior welterweight contender who has caused the delay in a scheduled fight. An undisclosed injury has forced England’s Catterall to postpone his plan showdown with former two-time 140-pound titleholder Regis Prograis.
The two were due to meet on Aug. 24 at Co-op Live in Manchester. Two sources familiar with the situation informed The Ring that the bout will now likely take place in October.
Not immediately made clear was the status of the planned undercard. Among the bouts in limbo, Rhiannon Dixon (10-0, 1 KO) was due to defend her WBO 135-pound title versus former two-division beltholder Terri Harper (14-2-2, 6 KOs).
ESPN.com boxing insider Mike Coppinger was the first to report the development.
It’s an ironic twist for Catterall, who spent more than two years waiting on a rematch with former RING/undisputed champion Josh Taylor. Their snakebit sequel suffered multiple delays before they finally met on May 25. Catterall (29-1, 13 knockouts) won a unanimous decision, 27 months after he suffered a controversial split decision defeat in their Feb. 2022 championship contest.
Catterall sought to make up for lost time and immediately moved forward with his career. The Ring’s No. 4-rated junior welterweight agreed to terms with minimal interruption to face Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs) this summer.
Those plans are on hold for another 6-8 weeks, though the affected party doesn’t seemed too bothered by the situation.
“This just leaves me more time to get stronger and better,” said Prograis, No. 8 at 140 by The Ring. “Back to the weight room.”
This just leaves me more time to get stronger and better. Back to the weight room https://t.co/UklwlVV51U
— Rougarou (@RPrograis) July 30, 2024
Prograis has twice held titles at 140. He won the WBA belt in an April 2019 knockout win over Kyril Relikh in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The feat took place two hours from Prograis’ childhood hometown of New Orleans but his reign ended on the other side of the Atlantic. Prograis dropped a competitive majority decision to Taylor in their Oct. 2019 World Boxing Super Series finale in London.
Five wins followed, including a Nov. 2022 11th round knockout of Jose Zepeda to win the WBC 140-pound belt. Prograis made one defense, a decision win over Danielito Zorrilla last June 17 in New Orleans. The reign ended in a twelve-round shutout defeat to Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs; 1 NC) last Dec. 9 in San Francisco, California.
Catterall has fought just three times since the disputed defeat to Taylor. Four separate delays left him out of the ring for 13 months before a decision victory over Darragh Foley last May. Catterall then outpointed former three-division titlist Jorge Linares last October before his victory over Taylor in May.
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The post Jack Catterall Injured, Clash With Regis Prograis Pushed Back To October appeared first on The Ring.
