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Regis Prograis is insulted because Gervonta Davis merely mentioned his name.
Prograis gave Davis credit for dropping Mario Barrios three times and stopping a significantly taller, heavier opponent in the 11th round of his 140-pound debut Saturday night at State Farm Arena. The former WBA “super” 140-pound champion warned Davis, however, that the undefeated knockout artist wouldn’t have nearly as much success against him as Davis did while beating Barrios.
New Orleans’ Prograis took to social media in the wee hours of the morning following Davis’ impressive win to deliver his message to the Baltimore native.
“I saw the Tank fight,” Prograis said while working out at an undisclosed location in his hometown. “Good fight, Tank. Solid opponent. But he ain’t me. So, don’t you ever f—— say my name ever again because I guarantee I’ll smash you. And I guarantee Floyd [Mayweather] and Leonard Ellerbe and none of them n-ggas ain’t gonna let you close to me. So, don’t f—— talk. Don’t say my name ever again because I will f—–’ knock you out little boy.”
In addition to IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO champion Josh Taylor, Prograis (26-1, 22 KOs) is one of the 140-pound opponents boxing fans would most want to see Davis fight if Davis remains in that division. Scotland’s Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs), who has since become boxing’s undisputed junior welterweight champion, edged Prograis by majority decision in their 12-round, 140-pound title unification fight in October 2019 at O2 Arena in London.
Regardless, it is much more likely that the 5-feet-5½ Davis will return to the lightweight division for his next fight. The 26-year-old Davis (25-0, 24 KOs) also hasn’t ruled out dropping all the way down to the junior lightweight limit of 130 pounds for his next Showtime Pay-Per-View main event, which likely will take place at some point in the fall.
The 32-year-old Prograis doesn’t have a fight scheduled. He most recently stopped Ukraine’s Ivan Redkach (23-6-1, 18 KOs, 1 NC) in the sixth round of their Triller Fight Club pay-per-view bout April 17 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.