Thirty-six and two defeats removed from the summit, former two-time 140-lb champion Regis Prograis has left Houston comfort for Las Vegas furnace, logging three workouts a day under new tutor Kay Koroma. Before dawn he’s pounding mountain roads at 110°F; by midday he’s knocking fundamentals into place alongside teenage amateurs at Knuckleheads Boxing Club while Koroma shoves his shoulders down and barks “Bend your legs!” Prograis admits the harsh schooling is overdue: “I was always a fighter, never really learned the basics. Now I need teaching.”
The August 2 comeback in Chicago will be his first outing since back-to-back decision losses to Devin Haney and Jack Catterall. Swapping family time for solitary desert miles, Prograis says Tyson Fury’s three-month communication blackout before the Usyk rematch inspired the move. “I could be on a beach, but this is the only place I want to be. I’m not chasing money; I’m chasing another belt.”
Watch Haney vs. Prograis highlights: Watch
Koroma, whose résumé includes Shakur Stevenson and Bruce Carrington, sees raw material worth refining. “People called him a one-trick pony. I’m the annoying voice fixing the things champions ignored,” he says, convinced Prograis can still trouble a division he deems thin beyond its titlists. Rougarou agrees: any belt at 140 is the target once Chicago is cleared.
With property, cars and millions already banked, Prograis insists this sacrifice is legacy, not loot. “I’ve been to the top, fell, and I know I can climb again,” he says while icing sore quads. Vegas heat may be punishing, but for an old dog intent on new tricks, it beats the beach.
Image Credit: DAZN