Regis Prograis Demands “Big Money” for Joseph Diaz Rematch: Will Turki Alalshikh or Oscar De La Hoya Pay Up?

Regis Prograis rejected the idea of giving Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz a rematch unless it’s for “big money” coming from Turki Alalshikh or promoter Oscar De La Hoya.

(Credit: Golden Boy/Cris Esqueda)

Prograis Eyes 140-lb Title

Regis (30-3, 24 KOs) says his immediate goal is to fight for one of the world titles at light welterweight to become a three-time champion in the 140-lb division.

Regis doesn’t say how much he would expect to be paid for a rematch with Diaz, but it’s unlikely to happen if it’s in the million-dollar range. He came into the fight having lost his two previous fights, and he was supposed to breeze through the faded Diaz, who had lost six or eight going into the contest. The fight showed that the 36-year-old Prograis’s punch resistance is gone, and he’s no longer a serious contender for a world championship.

Last Saturday night, Prograis won a questionable 10-round unanimous decision over the former IBF super featherweight champion ‘JoJo’ Diaz (34-8-1, 15 KOs) at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Prograis was hurt many times in the fight, although he claimed he was only buzzed once in the first round. In reality, he was staggering frequently from rounds 1 through 9.

The scores

– 98-92
– 96-94
– 96-94

“Listen, my thing is I want to be a world champion again. So, if somehow me and ‘JoJo’ get a chance to fight for a belt or big money, we’ll do it,” said Regis Prograis to Chris Mannix about the idea of fighting a rematch against Joseph Diaz.

Is Prograis Championship Material?

There are no champions at 140 that Prograis would have any chance of beating. That’s the issue. He would be overmatched by all four of the current belt holders, and the fights wouldn’t be entertaining. He’d already been soundly beaten by Devin Haney and Jack Catterall coming into last Saturday’s fight.

Current 140-lb champions

• Gary Antuanne Russell: WBA
• Richardson Hitchins: IBF
• Teofimo Lopez: WBO
• Subriel Matias: WBC

Diaz Rematch: “Big Money” Talk

“I know ‘JoJo’ will do it. Big money? Where is Turki at? Where is Oscar [De La Hoya] at? If Oscar wants to put up some big money or Turki wants to put up big money for me and ‘JoJo’ to do it again, I’m pretty sure we’ll do it again. If not, let’s go for a belt,” said Prograis.

If Turki or De La Hoya can get Prograis to agree to a Walmart special price, maybe it’s worthwhile to put a rematch together with Diaz. Other than that, let him pursue his near hopeless goal of becoming a world champion again at 140. I don’t see Regis as having any chance of beating any of the world champions in the division or even the top 5 contenders.