Regis Prograis vs Joseph Diaz Jr. Preview August 2nd, 2025
Former WBC Junior Welterweight Champion Regis Prograis of New Orleans returns to the ring this Saturday, August, 2nd to take on former IBF Junior Lightweight Champion Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz Jr of South El Monte, California in battle of southpaws. The 10-round junior welterweight contest from Chicago, Illinois England can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Prograis last fought in October when he lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Jack Catterall in a shot at the vacant WBO International Junior Welterweight Title for his second consecutive defeat. Catterall was dropped in the fifth round and Prograis was down in the ninth. In his previous outing 10 months earlier, Prograis lost a shutout unanimous decision to Devin Haney to lose his WBC Title and was dropped in the third round. Diaz last saw action in June when he beat Jorge Luis Valencia Diaz via an eight-round unanimous decision to halt a three fight losing skid. Diaz has lost six of his last eight fights and has won just three of his past 10.
Prograis vs Diaz Jr. Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Joseph Diaz Jr. +475
- Regis Prograis -750
My Pick
The 36-year-old Prograis was born in New Orleans and fights out of Houston, Texas. He makes the ring walk with a mark of 29-3 with 24 Ko’s. He won the interim WBC Junior Welterweight Title when he stopped Julius Indongo in the second round in March, 2018 and then won the vacant WBC Diamond belt against Juan Velasco with an eighth-round stoppage four months later. He defended against Terry Flanagan and Kiryl Relikh and also won the WBA belt with the win over Relikh.
He then ran into IBF Champion Josh Taylor in the World Boxing Super Series Final in October, 2019 and was edged by a majority decision for first pro defeat. He bounced back with knockout wins over Juan Heraldez, Ivan Redkach and Tyrone McKenna and then stopped Jose Zepeda in the 11th round in November, 2022 to win the vacant WBC Junior Welterweight Crown. He defended it via a split decision over Danielto Zorrilla in June, 2023 and then lost it to Haney six months later.
Prograis enjoyed a fine amateur career and has also won the NABF Junior Super Lightweight Title and NABF Super Lightweight Crown since turning pro in 2012. He’s boxed a total of 172 rounds since then and stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 67-inch reach. This gives him a two-inch edge in height over Diaz as well as three-inches in reach. The most noticeable thing about Prograis is obviously the 24 Ko’s in his 29 victories which translates into a current knockout ratio of 82.8 per cent in his victories.
Prograis is a dangerous puncher who isn’t really interested in hearing what the judges have to say about his fights but he’s also a pretty good boxer. However he’s gone the distance in his last three fights. Along with beating Zepeda, Indongo, Relikh, Velasco, Redkach and Flanagan, he’s also beaten the likes of Joel Diaz Jr., Luis Eduardo Florez, Aaron Herrera, Abel Ramos, and Hector Velazquez. Prograis was interested in a rematch with Josh Taylor at one point to avenge his first loss but Taylor recently retired due to an eye problem.
The 32-year-old Diaz Jr. lost his first world title shot when he dropped a unanimous decision to WBC Featherweight Champion Gary Russell Jr. in May, 2018. He then beat WBA Titleholder Jesus Rojas by unanimous decision three months later but came in overweight for the fight and wasn’t able to win the belt. It was third time lucky for him though when he beat Tevin Farmer for the IBF Super Featherweight Title via unanimous decision in 2020.
He then lost the belt when he failed to make weight against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov in February, 2021 and ended up fighting to a 12-round draw with him. In his following fight he won the WBC interim belt with a unanimous decision over Javier Fortuna but lost it against Devin Haney and was then beaten by William Zepeda and Mercito Gesta before rebounding with a win over Jerry Perez and the defeat to Jesus Antonio Campos. That was followed by losses to Oscar Duarte by ninth-round stoppage and a 10-round split decision to Abraham Montoya.
All of this action brings Diaz’s pro record to 34-7-1 with 15 Ko’s. As an amateur, Diaz was a member of the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team at the 2012 Games in London, England where he went 1-1 as a bantamweight. He also reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 World Amateur Championships. He turned pro in 2012 and has fought 332 rounds since. Diaz has average power at best in his fists with 44.1 per cent of his wins coming by way of stoppage. He hasn’t recorded a knockout since halting Freddy Fonseca in 2019, which was 13 fights ago.
Diaz measures 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 64-inch reach and has also captured the NABF and WBO-NABO Featherweight Titles and the WBA Gold Super Featherweight Crown as a pro. He also has wins over Jesus Cuadro, Victor Terrazas, Rafael Rivera, Manuel Avila, Horacio Garcia, Jayson Velez, Hugo Partida, Rene Alvarado, Roberto Castaneda and Ruben Tamayo. He’s got a solid chin as he’s been stopped just once in 42 fights.
Prediction…
Prograis possesses more power and better boxing skills than Diaz but he looked pretty bad in his last few outings. Diaz is also in the twilight of his career with six losses in his last eight outings. It’s possible that this could be a good, competitive matchup though since both combatants are fading. Anything’s possible here but even though Prograis is four years older at 36, he has the edge in power and skills so I give him the edge.
Prograis is the better overall boxer and has greater power.
Play Prograis -750 @ BetOnline.ag
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Joseph Diaz Jr. betting • Regis Prograis betting