As a embellished newbie boxer who skilled beneath Evander Holyfield, Regis Prograis appeared destined to carry skilled gold sooner reasonably than later, and he turned these predictions into actuality by incomes the WBA tremendous light-weight championship in 2019.
However having misplaced the title in his first protection after a heartbreaking defeat on factors towards Josh Taylor, the person from New Orleans, LA, vowed to reclaim his spot on the prime. In November, 2022, Prograis made good on that promise by knocking out Jose Zepeda to say the vacant WBC super-lightweight title. This Saturday (June 17), Prograis will defend his title in his hometown for the primary time.
M&F sat down with the southpaw, 34, to seek out out what he’s picked up from a number of the greats, and why he provides all the pieces that he’s bought on the subject of coaching for a struggle.
Anybody who has tuned into Prograis’ entertaining coaching vlogs on YouTube will know that the champ likes to start out every day with a run. “Fasted cardio, bro, all the time,” says the fighter of his routine. “I by no means practice on a full abdomen. I all the time quick.” Prograis says that some boxers prefer to eat a giant breakfast earlier than they practice, however that’s not for him. Actually, it’s usually round 2 p.m. earlier than this athlete lastly sits down for his first meal. “I’ve been doing that for years. It simply works for me,” he shares.
As a super-lightweight, Prograis says that he feels snug within the weight class, however having employed a nutritionist simply over a yr in the past, he’s by no means felt higher about making the load earlier than a bout than he does now. To hit his macros, the champ dietary supplements with protein shakes (with water, not milk) and provides a contact of honey for sweetness. “Boxing is old fashioned, and you understand loads of trainers, they don’t find out about vitamin,” says Prograis. “And, when you get on the next stage, you simply perceive, vitamin is simply all the pieces.” The fighter says that previously he’d resorted to sitting in sauna’s earlier than weigh-ins or just not consuming, however now he follows the recommendation of his nutritionist and solely eats what has been accepted.
Regis Prograis Trains to Grow to be an Immoveable Object
Whereas Prograis should keep beneath 140 kilos to suit inside his weight class, this boxer is changing into an immovable object on the subject of dominating from the centre of the ring. To attain this, the fighter devotes a lot of his time to coaching legs. “I do loads of stuff,” says than man often known as “Rougarou” (Louisiana French for “werewolf” in homage to his grandfather of Native American descent). “So, I run lengthy distance, I run sprints and I run the steps too. After which, on prime of that we do swimming and loads of leg workout routines too.” With regards to hitting the pool, Prograis mixes issues up with diverse periods. Someday he’ll do dash work, and different days the boxer will swim lengthy distance. He additionally works on his lung capability by swimming beneath water.
Regis Prograis Learns from the Legends Who Got here Earlier than Him
If you happen to see the WBC tremendous light-weight champ out on considered one of his runs, you might discover that he likes to put on military boots. He’s been doing that just about because the very starting of his profession. “Within the army, you understand, they practice, they run miles and miles in fight boots. I kinda do the identical factor,” he shares, explaining the motivation behind this technique of coaching. “All the nice fighters of the previous, they used to do it, in order that’s actually the one motive I do it … like, from Ray Robinson, Harry Armstrong, Joe Louis and George Foreman, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, I imply the listing goes on and on, you understand, all people operating in boots and I don’t know once we began coming away from it … however that’s one thing I nonetheless do.”
The champ has additionally discovered that restoration is a key facet of stepping into prime situation between fights, noting that to start with of his professional profession, he was all the time sore. half-hour earlier than our interview, Prograis says that he was in his chilly plunge tub, and feels that it revives him to the purpose the place he’s feeling nice. “After all, you must get ample sleep,” notes the champ. “You get massages, you understand, all these sorts of issues.” Prograis is all the time hungry for data and says that he picked up the tip of taking common naps from “The Fighters Thoughts” by Sam Sheridan. “Restoration is tremendous vital as a result of, I imply, in case you really feel unhealthy, you gained’t be capable to practice,” he explains.
From sparring to swimming, operating to lifting weights, Prograis trains not less than 3 times per day. Within the health club, the fighter works on explosive energy, noting that he does loads of squats. “We do loads of ball slams,” he provides, sharing that he additionally does loads of stepping and punching whereas sporting a resistance band too. It’s a relentless pursuit with the intention of proving that he’s the perfect on the planet, and on June 17, he’ll get to earn closure on that 2019 title loss by defending the WBC gold at an area he’s pushed previous hundreds of instances; The Smoothie King Heart. There, he (28-1-0) will face Danielito Zorrilla (17-1-0) earlier than a hometown crowd and tells M&F that after that earlier loss, he devoted himself to coaching more durable, and smarter, to reclaim his place. “I’m headlining, and I’m from there,” says Prograis, proudly. “Man, that is large.” Proper now, after all, the champ says that he’s too focussed on the struggle to let all of it sink in, however he actually has victory in his sights. “After the struggle, it’ll hit me what I completed.”
Regis “Rougarou” Prograis defends the WBC tremendous light-weight title towards Danielito Zorrilla dwell on DAZN, June 17.
