Regis Prograis is certain he is capable of knocking out Josh Taylor.
Even if Taylor withstands his power, Prograis is confident he can win a decision against the Scottish southpaw in what essentially is a fight in Taylor’s backyard. O2 Arena in London is the venue for their 140-pound title unification fight Saturday night.
Prograis, a New Orleans native who resides in Houston, still doesn’t think he needs a knockout to beat Taylor in their World Boxing Super Series final.
“I think I can still win a decision,” Prograis told BoxingScene.com. “A lot of people are asking me if I feel like I have to knock him out. I don’t feel like I have to knock him out. I feel like I can get a decision over here, because I feel it’s gonna be a dominant performance by me. I feel like I don’t have to knock him out to win. I feel like I can get a decision here. I think the judges will be fair. And it’s gonna be neutral judges, so I don’t feel like I have to knock him out to win. I don’t think I’ll get robbed or nothing like that.”
As part of the fighters’ agreement with the WBSS, none of the three judges assigned to score the Prograis-Taylor fight are from the United Kingdom or the United States.
The British Boxing Board of Control has approved Italy’s Matteo Montella, Mexico’s Alfredo Polanco and Canada’s Benoit Roussel as judges for Prograis-Taylor. The BBBofC has assigned England’s Marcus McDonnell as the referee for a fight DAZN will stream in the United States and Sky Sports Box Office will offer via pay-per-view in the United Kingdom.
“It was between my managers, my trainer and my promoter to pick out the ref and the judges, and to make sure they’re neutral,” Prograis said. “And whatever they say, it’s cool with me.”
Lou DiBella is Prograis’ promoter. He is managed by a group headed by actor Mark Wahlberg and actor/director Peter Berg.
Handicappers have installed Prograis (24-0, 20 KOs) as a slight favorite over Taylor (15-0, 12 KOs). They’ll fight for Prograis’ WBA super lightweight title and Taylor’s IBF junior welterweight belt.
DAZN’s coverage is set to start Saturday at 2 p.m. EDT/11 a.m. PDT. Fans in the UK can buy Sky Sports Box Office’s show for £19.95 (7 p.m. BST).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
