New Orleans boxing champ Regis Prograis relishes heel role at home of Scottish rival on Saturday – The Advocate

New Orleans-born boxing champion Regis Prograis relished his heel role Saturday in Glasgow, Scotland, where Scot native Josh Taylor beat Ivan Baranchyk via a unanimous decision to join Prograis in the 140-pound final of the World Boxing Super Series later this year.

The crowd of 6,000 backing Taylor booed Prograis lustily midway through the bout when he was shown on the screens of The SSE Hydro arena as well as on the broadcast being streamed on the DAZN platform.

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Can’t see tweet below? Click here.

This was Glasgow,
Scotland’s reception for NOLA’s Regis Prograis tonight. Prograis’ camp loved the heel role the WBA champ was cast in. pic.twitter.com/SqgGWD1lcM

— Ramon Antonio Vargas (@RVargasAdvocate) May 18, 2019

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He responded by holding his arms up — as if challenging the partisan crowd to be louder — and unleashing a combination into the air in front of him. 

Those fans continued the booing when Prograis, in a red warmup jacket and jeans, joined Taylor in the ring after the decision in his favor was announced.

During an in-ring interview, both agreed that they were the two best fighters in the eight-man tournament put on by the Super Series’ organizers.

They also said they were both justified in believing that they would win the final, which organizers are aiming to stage in the fall, possibly in Europe.

Prograis tried to score some brownie points with those in the SSE Hydro by saying he would be willing to fight the final in Glasgow. They brushed his words aside and showered him with more boos.

But then Prograis and Taylor stood face-to-face out of range of the microphones and had an animated verbal exchange.

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Can’t see tweet below? Click here.

“The best fighting the best, that’s what the @WBSuperSeries is about.” 🗣️💯@RPrograis vs. @JoshTaylorBoxer is gonna be FUN. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/3EIw3oCBwZ

— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) May 18, 2019

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In a text message later, Prograis’ New Orleans-based publicist, Tony Flot, said Taylor asked Prograis whether he was ready for war during that back-and-forth. Taylor also said he wouldn’t be knocked out by Prograis, according to Flot, who was in Glasgow as well.

Meanwhile, Prograis’ message to Taylor — whose face was cut and bloodied during the bout with Baranchyk — was the following: “Look at you. You got f—ed up tonight. If I hit you like dat, you gone.”

Prograis later showed up to Taylor’s post-fight press conference donning a symbol of Scottish culture: a tartan kilt, according to a tweet from sports journalist Ross Pilcher. 

Prograis (24-0, 20 KOs) holds one of the four major championship belts up for grabs in his weight class after earning a sixth-round technical knockout victory over Belarus’ Kiryl Relikh in Lafayette during a Super Series semifinal last month.

He clinched the right to face Relikh after scoring a unanimous decision over England’s Terry Flanagan in New Orleans during a quarterfinal in late October.

The Edinburgh-born Taylor (15-0, 12 KOs) holds another of the major championship belts in his weight class after earning a unanimous victory Saturday on the scorecards over Belarus’ Baranchyk, who suffered his first defeat.

Despite his face becoming bloodied, Taylor was in firm control throughout the fight and even knocked Baranchyk down to the canvas twice in the sixth round.

He secured his spot in Saturday’s semi after a seventh-round TKO at the SSE Hydro in early November over Ohio’s Ryan Martin.

The winner of Prograis-Taylor will emerge as the unified holder of the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation championship belts, as well as a trophy named after legendary prizefighter Muhammad Ali.

Many fight fans and pundits in the United Kingdom heavily favor Taylor while many of their counterparts across the pond months ago picked Prograis to take the belts as well as the Ali trophy at the conclusion of the tournament.