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As a adorned beginner boxer who skilled beneath Evander Holyfield, Regis Prograis appeared destined to carry skilled gold sooner relatively than later, and he turned these predictions into actuality by incomes the WBA tremendous light-weight championship in 2019.
But having misplaced the title in his first protection after a heartbreaking defeat on factors in opposition to 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 assert 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 among the greats, and why he offers all the things that he’s received on the subject of coaching for a battle.
Anyone who has tuned into Prograis’ entertaining coaching vlogs on YouTube will know that the champ likes to start out each day with a run. “Fasted cardio, bro, always,” says the fighter of his routine. “I never train on a full stomach. I always fast.” Prograis says that some boxers wish to eat a giant breakfast earlier than they prepare, however that’s not for him. In reality, 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 just works for me,” he shares.
As a super-lightweight, Prograis says that he feels comfy within the weight class, however having employed a nutritionist simply over a 12 months 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 school, and you know a lot of trainers, they don’t know about nutrition,” says Prograis. “And, once you get on a higher level, you just understand, nutrition is just everything.” 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 permitted.
Regis Prograis Trains to Become an Immoveable Object
While Prograis should keep under 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 obtain this, the fighter devotes a lot of his time to coaching legs. “I do a lot of stuff,” says than man also called “Rougarou” (Louisiana French for “werewolf” in homage to his grandfather of Native American descent). “So, I run long distance, I run sprints and I run the stairs too. And then, on top of that we do swimming and a lot of leg exercises too.” When it involves hitting the pool, Prograis mixes issues up with assorted classes. Sometime 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 Came Before Him
If you see the WBC tremendous light-weight champ out on one in every of his runs, chances are you’ll discover that he likes to put on military boots. He’s been doing that just about for the reason that very starting of his profession. “In the military, you know, they train, they run miles and miles in combat boots. I kinda do the same thing,” he shares, explaining the motivation behind this methodology of coaching. “All of the great fighters of the past, they used to do it, so that’s really the only reason I do it … like, from Ray Robinson, Harry Armstrong, Joe Louis and George Foreman, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, I mean the list goes on and on, you know, everybody running in boots and I don’t know when we started coming away from it … but that’s something I still do.”
The champ has additionally discovered that restoration is a key facet of entering into prime situation between fights, noting that at first 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. “Of course, you have to get adequate sleep,” notes the champ. “You get massages, you know, all those types of things.” Prograis is all the time hungry for information and says that he picked up the tip of taking common naps from “The Fighters Mind” by Sam Sheridan. “Recovery is super important because, I mean, if you feel bad, you won’t be able to train,” he explains.
From sparring to swimming, working to lifting weights, Prograis trains a minimum of 3 times per day. In the fitness center, the fighter works on explosive energy, noting that he does numerous squats. “We do a lot of ball slams,” he provides, sharing that he additionally does numerous stepping and punching whereas sporting a resistance band too. It’s a relentless pursuit with the goal of proving that he’s the most effective on the earth, and on June 17, he’ll get to earn closure on that 2019 title loss by defending the WBC gold at an enviornment he’s pushed previous 1000’s of instances; The Smoothie King Center. 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 tougher, and smarter, to reclaim his place. “I’m headlining, and I’m from there,” says Prograis, proudly. “Man, this is massive.” Right now, after all, the champ says that he’s too focussed on the battle to let all of it sink in, however he actually has victory in his sights. “After the fight, it’ll hit me what I accomplished.”
Regis “Rougarou” Prograis defends the WBC tremendous light-weight title in opposition to Danielito Zorrilla reside on DAZN, June 17.