By Ian S Palmer
Former WBA World and WBC Diamond Super Junior Welterweight Champion Regis Prograis of New Orleans returns to the ring this Saturday, March 19th when he takes on fellow southpaw Tyrone McKenna of Northern Ireland. Prograis last boxed in April when he stopped Ivan Redkach in the sixth round. McKenna last saw action in August when he beat Jose Felix via a 10-round unanimous decision for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Super Lightweight Title. This weekend’s 10-rounder will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The 33-year-old Prograis has a record of 26-1 with 22 Kos. He won interim WBC Junior Welterweight Title when he stopped Julius Indongo in the second round in March, 2018 and then won the vacant WBC Diamond belt against Juan Velasco with an eighth-round stoppage. He defended against Terry Flanagan and Kiryl Relikh and won the WBA belt against Relikh before running into IBF Josh Taylor in the World Boxing Super Series Final in October, 2019 and was edged by a majority decision.
Prograis enjoyed a fine amateur career and has also won the NABF Junior Super Lightweight Title and NABF Super Lightweight crown since turning pro in 2012 and has boxed a total of 119 rounds since then. Prograis stands 5-feet-8-inches tall and possesses a 67-inch reach. The most noticeable thing about him is obviously the 22 Kos in his 26 victories which translates into a current knockout ratio of 81.5 per cent.
Prograis is a dangerous puncher who isn’t really interested in hearing what the judges have to say about his fights. Along with beating Indongo, Velasco, Redkach and Terry Flanagan, He’s also beaten the likes of Joel Diaz Jr., Luis Eduardo Florez, Aaron Herrera, Abel Ramos, Juan Heraldez and Hector Velazquez. He needs to keep on winning until he can land a rematch with Taylor or a title shot with another world champ.
The 32-year-old McKenna fights out of Belfast and climbs into the ring with a mark of 22-2-1 with 6 Kos. He’s quite tall for the division at 6-feet-1-inch, which gives him a five-inch reach advantage over Prograis, but unfortunately his reach is unlisted. McKenna made his pro debut back in 2012 after a considerable amateur career in which he lost to Carl Frampton, and has now fought 156 rounds as a pro.
McKenna doesn’t carry much power in his fists as his current knockout ratio stands at just 24 per cent. His first pro loss didn’t come until 2018 when he dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Jack Catterall in a shot at the WBO Inter-Continental Super Lightweight Title. He was dropped in the second and fifth rounds in that fight while Catterall was deducted a point for hitting him while he was down.
His second defeat came is September, 2020 at the hands of Ohara Davies when he was edged via a 10-round majority decision and lost his WBC International Super Lightweight belt which he won against Darragh Foley by 10-round unanimous decision in June, 2019 and successfully defended twice. McKenna’s lone draw was a six-round affair with Arvydas Trizno in 2016. Other than Davies, Felix and Catterall, McKenna has fought mainly domestic level opponents so will be taking a step up in class here.
Prediction…
Prograis is a world-class boxer with plenty of skills and power while McKenna is basically a European-level opponent with skills but hardly any power to speak of. Still, Prograis can’t take him lightly. But as long as he keeps up his aggressive style I’m expecting Prograis to have his hand held up when it’s over.
