Regis Prograis was facing his biggest test in former unified junior welterweight champion Julius Indongo, but Prograis passed his latest test in a big way.
Prograis made quick work of Indongo, knocking him down a total of four times in just two rounds before the fight got stopped, winning the vacant interim WBC junior welterweight championship. The fight headlined a special Showtime Boxing card from South Dakota.
The undefeated Prograis started the fight with a knockdown towards the end of the first round. Indongo never recovered from the initial onslaught of punches, got knocked down three more times and the referee put a stop to the fight with only seconds remaining in the second round.
With the win, Prograis not only wins the title, but also will more than likely face the winner of the Jose Ramirez vs. Amir Imam fight for the full WBC junior welterweight title. Ramirez vs. Imam will headline the March 17 Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card at Madison Square Garden.
Indongo came into the fight as a late replacement for the injured Viktor Postol. Indongo has not fought since losing the IBF and WBA junior welterweight titles to Terence Crawford in a historic 140-pound unification fight on ESPN.
In the co-main event, Ivan Baranchyk moved one step closer to challenging for the IBF junior welterweight title. Baranchyk scored a TKO win over former lightweight title challenger Petr Petrov, moving into the No. 2 position in the IBF rankings at 140 pounds. Just like Indongo, Petrov came in as a last-minute replacement after Anthony Yigit withdrew from the fight due to an illness.
