As Joe Biden famously said the other day, “When you get knocked down, you get back up.”
Whether the president actually winds up staying in the fight remains to be seen. But New Orleans native Regis Prograis is a believer in the old adage, attributed first not to another boxer, but to Vince Lombardi.
Prograis, knocked down and thoroughly dominated by Devin Haney in their WBC super lightweight championship bout in December, said he is confident he can become a three-time world champion.
Prograis is starting his comeback road against Jack Catterall on Aug. 24 in Manchester, England, in the new Co-Op Live Arena.
“When you’re a boxer, this is what you do,” said Prograis, who was in Manchester on Wednesday to promote the bout which will air on DAZN. “That’s the name of the game.
“That’s my way of life.”
At 35, Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs) acknowledges that this might be his final realistic comeback opportunity. And he’ll be doing so on the home turf of Catterall (29-1, 13 KOs), who is coming off the biggest victory of his career, a unanimous decision against former champion Josh Taylor.
It was Taylor who handed Catterall the only defeat of his career, via a controversial split decision in 2022. Taylor also handed Prograis his first defeat, on a majority decision in 2019, but later lost to Teofimo Lopez in a unification bout.
Defeating Taylor elevated Catterall to No. 3 in the latest ESPN rankings of 140-pounders. Prograis is No. 8 and figures to be a decided underdog after his dismal performance against Haney.
But he’s not deterred.
“I’m 35, but I’ve always taken good care of myself and I train every day whether I have a fight coming up or not,” said Prograis, who lives in Houston. “I’ve got a good family and money in the bank, so I don’t have to keep fighting.
“But this is what I love to do; it’s what drives me. What else am I going to do with my life?”
Actually, Prograis has been finding other things to occupy his time since the Haney fight.
Along with establishing a foundation to benefit organizations in need both in New Orleans and in Houston where he has lived since his family evacuated during Hurricane Katrina, Prograis has real estate investments in both cities.
And, with the assistance of childhood friend and author/publisher Ross Williams, Prograis recently released “Stories and Lessons,” an account of his life to date and what he’s learned from his experiences.
“I’ve always felt like I’ve had a different perspective on life,” Prograis said. “People might think I’m just a ghetto kid, but that’s not me.
“There are just some things I wanted to pass along, and Ross was the perfect person to do it with because we’ve known each other since the first grade.”
With so much going on, Prograis was in no hurry to return to the ring after the Haney fight, even if he had won.
But other developments in the division — mainly Liam Paro upsetting Subriel Matais for the IBF title last month — put Catterall in position to meet Paro later this year in Paro’s native Australia provided Catterall proves himself with another victory against a ranked contender.
Paro was actually to have met Prograis for his WBC title last year in New Orleans but had to withdraw a month before the fight because of an injury. Prograis wound up meeting unranked substitute Danielito Zorrilla and was unimpressive in a split-decision victory, a precursor to his effort against Haney.
Meanwhile, Paro has fought three times since the canceled fight, including the unanimous decision against Matais in Matais’ native Puerto Rico, and is now one of four super lightweight title holders.
“Sometimes the best fights are the ones that are made unexpectedly,” said Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Promotions, which promotes both Prograis and Catterall. “We’d been focused on other fighters, and Jack had expressed the desire to stay active.
“Regis was ready to fight again and he’s hungry for another title. This is the best fight you can have at 140 pounds without a belt at stake.”
Added Catterall, “After the Taylor fight, I wanted to get right back in the gym, and beating Regis would make me the mandatory challenger.
“I’m going against a very dangerous opponent though. Regis is intelligent and a heavy-handed hitter. It’s a real challenge.”
But only if Prograis improves from his last fight.
He didn’t win a round against Haney and landed the fewest punches ever in a 12-round bout, 34, according to CompuBox.
Prograis said he trained as hard as he could for Haney, but “it wasn’t good enough.”
So he’s switching things up for this fight, including working in Las Vegas with veteran trainer Kay Karona instead of longtime trainer Bobby Benton, whom Prograis has been with since early in his career.
“Bobby and I are cool, but there are some things I need to do differently,” Prograis said. “There are still some things I can add to my game, and Kay can show them to me.”
Also, unlike with his fight with Taylor which was held in London, Prograis plans to arrive in England only about 10 days before the fight.
“We were doing a lot of promoting for the fight, and I just stayed over there too long,” he said. “Now I have a goal again because when you lose the championship, you’re a lot hungrier.”
It’s one of those lessons Prograis vows to learn from, if he gets another chance at a title.
“I’m coming back,” he said. “I’m coming back strong.
“People may not think I can be a three-time world champion, but they’re wrong. I’m going to get it.”