Regis Prograis made good on his promise to win the WBA junior welterweight title and make his case for being the best 140-pound boxer in the world by defeating Kiryl Relikh.
Fighting in front of his home state fans in Lafayette, Louisiana, Prograis dominated Relikh to win the WBA title and advance to the World Boxing Super Series finals. The fight was stopped in the sixth round as Relikh was taking too much punishment to continue and so Relikh's corner and the referee decided to put a stop to the action.
The fight could have ended in the first round as Prograis landed a wicked left hand to Relikh's liver which caused him to flinch and Prograis took advantage and knocked him down. Relikh managed to recover, but wasn't able to do much against the new champion.
Prograis was able to continue punishing Relikh as the fight wore on and even managed to cut Relikh on the bridge of his nose in the second round. There was some controversy at the end of the second round when Relikh landed a hard left hand to Prograis after the bell had sounded, but Relikh was not reprimanded.
There was little doubt that Prograis was hurting Relikh as the fight progressed. Relikh wasn't just dealing with Prograis, but also was dealing with blood constantly pouring out of the cut from his nose. Prograis unleashed a barrage of punches at Relikh in the sixth, which caused the stoppage and awarded Prograis his ticket to the WBSS finals and his first world title.
With the win, Prograis will now wait for the other WBSS junior welterweight semifinal fight between Ivan Baranchyk and Josh Taylor taking place next month in Scotland. The winner of the tournament will walk away with the Muhammad Ali Trophy and the unified WBA and IBF titles.
