Regis Prograis aimed to get under the skin of light-welterweight opponent Jack Catterall by playing a voice note of Catterall’s manager saying American Prograis would “flatten” the British fighter.
Before their headline bout in Manchester on Saturday, an otherwise uneventful media conference was disrupted towards the end as Prograis interrupted promoter Eddie Hearn with phone in hand.
“I have got something else to say,” said Prograis. “I’m going to slash everything right now.
“A long time ago, Sam Jones, his [Catterall’s] manager, actually said that I would beat Jack.”
Jones, who was stood off-stage, claimed never to have said anything – insisting Prograis had been “hit too many times in the head by Devin Haney” in losing his previous bout.
Prograis then played the audio into the microphones used for the conference, where Jones’ voice can be clearly heard saying: “I like Jack by the way, I know him very well, but I do think that you flatten him.
“You understand what I mean? Because you are a different guy to Josh Taylor [Catterall’s previous opponent, who he lost to in 2022 before winning their rematch in May].”
Jones said the voice notes were from 2021, while he was working with Prograis. He said in the media conference that “this is before I knew Jack”, before further defending himself on social media.
“I was working with Regis at the time and was trying to make the Prograis-Catterall fight,” he said in response to the video on X. “We can all dig messages up, Regis.”
He also claimed to have forgotten that he sent the messages, when challenged about his initial denial.
The drama adds spice to a fight for which the build-up until this point had been low-key and respectful.
The first fight to headline a boxing event at the Co-op Live arena, it sees Catterall aim to follow up his impressive victory over Taylor.
Prograis, meanwhile, is aiming to recover from a damaging defeat by Haney nearly 11 months ago, which saw him lose his WBC world title.
The fight was due to take place on 24 August, but was delayed by two months after Catterall suffered a minor injury in training.
‘I’m completely ready to go’
Chorley-born Catterall says he is now fighting fit, and told BBC Sport: “I spoke to the team, we made the decision to postpone the fight. Knowing the risk and reward, it was only right to push the date back to make sure I was 100%.
“It was just an injury picked up in training, nothing life-threatening but it needed time to heal before I could train at full force again. Now I’m completely ready to go.
“You’ve got to listen to your body, but I was in the gym working around it. I wasn’t at home lying in bed, I was staying physically fit.”
While Prograis has twice held world titles and is four years his senior, Catterall arguably enters this bout as favourite following a highly successful 12 months.
The 31-year-old has beaten Jorge Linares and Taylor in headline fights in Liverpool and Leeds over the past year, and tops the bill once again on Saturday.
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No belts are on the line here, and Catterall has not fought for a title since a controversial loss to Taylor in their first bout.
He expects to put that right next year if he beats Prograis, telling BBC Sport: “The winner will get a world title shot in 2025. This puts me one step closer.
“This is a great division with a lot of champions, and a win over Regis puts me in a great position.”
Catterall is eyeing a fight with IBF champion Liam Paro in 2025, and Hearn says that is on the cards.
“It’s really important we give him a shot,” the Matchroom chairman told BBC Sport.
“Paro fights Richardson Hitchins in December – it makes sense for the winner of this fight to face whoever wins that. Jack deserves it, if it’s him.”
Hearn also praised Catterall for taking on his third big-ticket opponent in the space of a year, as the Lancastrian aims to build his name in British and world boxing.
“Inactivity is a killer for peoples’ careers,” he said. “You have to be fighting minimum three times a year at championship level, otherwise you’ll go stale, your profile will suffer and you won’t get any momentum.
“I’ve seen it time and time again; when top fighters are active they are much better, they are happier, their camps are shorter. It’s a short career, you want to fit in as many opportunities as possible.”
