3/9 SHOBOX - Regis Prograis vs Julius Indongo

Who wins?

  • Prograis

    Votes: 7 77.8%

  • Indongo

    Votes: 2 22.2%
  • Total voters
    9
  • Poll closed .
patscorpio

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A fractured left thumb has knocked former junior welterweight world titleholder Viktor Postol out of a vacant interim title bout against Regis Prograis on March 9, but Prograis will still take a big step up in opposition against replacement opponent Julius Indongo, who also is a former world titlist.

Prograis and Indongo will now headline the Showtime-televised card (10 p.m. ET/PT) at the Deadwood Mountain Grand in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Lou DiBella, who promotes Prograis and signed Indongo in early January, told ESPN on Monday that Postol suffered the injury last Wednesday and that he was notified over the weekend.

"I feel badly for Postol," DiBella said. "The WBC and Showtime approved former world champion Julius Indongo to replace him and fight for the interim title."

Indongo (22-1, 11 KOs), a 2008 Namibian Olympian and former unified 140-pound world titleholder who turned 35 on Monday, lost both of his belts by third-round knockout to Terence Crawford in their undisputed title world championship fight on Aug. 19. DiBella said Indongo was training for his return fight, which was supposed to take place on one of DiBella's "Broadway Boxing" club shows in March.

"He was preparing for a comeback fight, but obviously this opportunity knocked," DiBella said. "Regis wanted the kind of opponent who would help him make a statement. He has that in Postol and now he has it with Indongo. It's one former world champion stepping in for another one. Postol and Indongo both have strong résumés with their only losses coming to 'Bud' Crawford. So things have worked out as well as they could."

Prograis (20-0, 17 KOs), a 29-year-old southpaw from New Orleans who relocated to Houston in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, scored his most notable win in June when he knocked out then-undefeated Joel Diaz Jr. in the second round. Prograis has scored knockouts in 13 of his last 14 fights.

Postol (29-1, 12 KOs), 34, of Ukraine, won a vacant junior welterweight world title when he knocked out Lucas Matthysse in the 10th round of an upset in October 2015. But Postol lost the belt in his first defense when he was dominated in a one-sided decision loss to Crawford in a July 2016 title unification fight.

"With respect to Victor Postol, we hope he recovers quickly and there's a possibility that the winner of the fight will fight him eventually," DiBella said. "It isn't like anything got easier for Regis Prograis with this change of opponent. This is still the toughest opponent of his career."

The Prograis-Indongo winner will await a mandatory fight against the winner of the vacant full title fight between Jose Ramirez (21-0, 16 KOs) and Amir Imam (21-1, 18 KOs), who are scheduled to fight March 17 in the main event of a Top Rank on ESPN card at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The co-feature of the March 9 car remains a junior welterweight title elimination bout between Ivan "The Beast" Baranchyk (17-0, 10 KOs), of Russia, and Sweden's Anthony Yigit (21-0-1, 7 KOs). DiBella said heavyweight prospect Junior Fa (13-0, 8 KOs) of New Zealand is also likely to be added to the telecast against an opponent to be determined.
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reservoirdogs

reservoirdogs

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I voted Prograis but nothing would surprise me here

I feel like Prograis' head movement might be too good for Indongo so I can see him finding a way to the inside and bombing out the Blue Machine

but... if Indongo can keep him at bay he can win a decision too... and if he lands a shot like he did against Troyanovski he can win by KO too
 
H

HeruDat1

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Let's go Regis :birdman:

Get at Indongo to the body and fight inside
 
patscorpio

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Regis Prograis vs. Julius Indongo: Only One Way Up
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By Cliff Rold

Even being counted out in his all-belts-on-the-line unification with Terence Crawford last summer, Julius Indongo was a winner.

What else can one call a fighter few outside his native Namibia had ever heard of going from anonymous to the Crawford fight in just eight months?

Julius Indongo (22-1, 11 KO) won’t be able to say he was the undisputed champion at 140 lbs. but he can say he got halfway there, traveled the world, and made some good money along the way. That it all happened in less than a year made it the more remarkable. His consecutive wins over Eduard Troyanovsky in Moscow and Ricky Burns in Glasgow meant IBF and WBA belts. He came up short heading on the road again for Crawford but he still got there.

That’s a lifetime of winning for most men.

Indongo isn’t done trying to win some more. Friday night in Deadwood, South Dakota (yes, on Friday it’s Deadwood on Showtime (10 PM EST)…sorry, had to squeeze that one in), he has a chance to get right back into the title picture.

New Orleans native Regis Prograis (20-0, 17 KO) has an equal chance to finish sending Indongo back into obscurity. It’s a quality main event for the ShoBox series. Indongo-Prograis will be for a vacant interim WBC belt and how that all shakes out with the sanctioning body remains to be seen. It obviously puts the winner in the mix.

It’s an awkward mix for the moment. Crawford has vacated his titles at 140 lbs. and is now campaigning at welterweight. Leave it to the WBC to crown two champions to fill his shoes.

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In little more than a week from now, undefeated US Olympian Jose Ramirez (21-0, 16 KO) will face Amir Imam (21-1, 18 KO) for the vacant WBC title. So, with no one holding a WBC belt in the division, there will be an interim titlist before the title itself is filled? Why not just order a four-man tournament?

Is this leading to a clash between the Prograis-Indongo and Ramirez-Imam winners?

Shouldn’t we know that going in?

It feels like hard work to come up with things this stupid.

The harder work will take place in the ring. Sanctioning body nonsense aside, this is a good fight on paper. If the WBC helped get us there, that isn’t all bad. It’s a critical fight for both men not just because of the title implications but because of where they are in their careers.

Indongo, at 35, can’t afford to lose two fights in a row. Tall and long for the class at nearly 5’11 with a 71’ inch wingspan, Indongo isn’t an easy puzzle. Crawford figured him out but Crawford might be the best fighter in any weight class right now. Prograis, so far, hasn’t looked in quite that air.

It doesn’t mean he hasn’t looked damn good or can’t get there. Prograis fights with the more dynamic style in this southpaw clash. He has sudden speed, good balance, head and upper body movement, and he can crack. Prograis comes to fight and if he watched the Crawford tapes he knows the body can be vulnerable for his lanky foe.

Prograis is only 27 so he has more time on his side than Indongo. A loss would still hurt. Boxing fans can be more fickle than ever these days and a single loss can sidetrack the wrong career. Prograis isn’t an early star; he isn’t likely to be afforded a tabloid advantage in overcoming an early career defeat. If he keeps winning, he has the style of a potential star.

His path to wealth and greater glory will require a sustained consistency of performance.

That leaves only one way up the ladder for both men on Friday night. It’s a clash between an older fighter who might even have surprised himself with the run he went on and a younger man who would surely love to get even that far.

Sometimes, clashes like these make memorable affairs no matter which battler slips down the rungs.
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