Chicago, Illinois – Regis “Rougarou” Prograis (30-3, 24 KOs) and Joseph “JoJo” Diaz (34-8-1, 15 KOs) went to war at the Credit One Arena in Chicago, Illinois. An intense back-and-forth battle from the opening bell. JoJo rocked Rougarou with a left in the first round that made his legs wobble. He surprisingly survived the round and the match. Diaz had success early, landing multiple power shots that hurt Prograis. Once Regis found his rhythm, he began throwing several combinations that found the mark.
Diaz did not do anything defensively to evade Rougarou’s combinations, allowing Prograis to outland him in 8 of the 10 rounds. Offensively, Jojo was very much in the fight, landing several power punches that halted Rougarou’s attack on numerous exchanges, but he allowed Regis to counterattack with volume, exceeding his punch output. Rougarou outthrew (895 to 510) and outlanded (224 to 197) JoJo in the match, earning the unanimous decision victory (Compubox). It was a tough, hard-fought battle that the Chicago crowd enjoyed, and it’s a top candidate for fight of the year.
Regis wants to become champion a third time. When asked which current champion he’d like to face? He said, “Any one of them. I just want a belt again. It don’t matter. I’m not going to lie. It don’t matter who I got to fight. Obviously, you know, this was a tough fight for me. I have to go back to the drawing board and become better. Work on my balance a lot, you know, definitely keep my hands up, but it don’t matter, bro. I just want to be champion again. That’s the main thing.”
@OscarDeLaHoya I want to fight Regis. El Monte needs that lick back!!
— Arnold Barboza jr (@jrBarbozaArnold) August 3, 2025
Prograis had a list of fighters calling me him out on X (Twitter) wanting to fight him, from Curmel Moton, Emiliano Vargas, and Arnold Barboza Jr. The most likely choice would be Barboza, sharing the same promotional company as Prograis.
A match between the two could produce an action-packed fight like the one we just witnessed between Prograis and Diaz. Golden Boy could potentially make the match before the end of the year, that is, as long as Regis agrees to it.
Barboza lost the first match of his professional career on the Ring’s Fatal Fury card in New York on May 25, when he was outpointed by Teofimo Lopez. Getting back in the ring against a quality opponent would place Barboza back on track towards his goal of becoming world champion. This was Rougarou’s Golden Boy debut; he wanted to put on a show for the fans, and he delivered as promised.
Last Updated on 08/04/2025
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