Regis Prograis Vs. JoJo Diaz Breakdown

Regis Prograis is set to face JoJo Diaz on August 2, as we look at how the fighters may approach the bout.

Prograis (29-3, 24 KOs) finds himself needing to rebound to form. After winning the WBC Junior Welterweight Title with a knockout of Jose Zepeda in 2022, he followed it up with a shaky split decision win over Danielito Zorrilla. Since then, he’s suffered consecutive defeats to Devin Haney and Jack Catterall.

Diaz (33-5-1, 15 KOs) is also trying to revive a once-promising career. The 2012 Olympian has gone 2-6 in his last eight, with recent losses to Oscar Duarte and Abraham Montoya further dimming his career. He did notch up a confidence-building win over Jorge Luis Valencia Diaz in his last outing, but questions remain about whether he can beat Prograis.

Breakdown

Prograis must leverage his natural power and reach advantage. If Regis can rediscover his explosive punching, particularly from his southpaw stance, then Diaz could be in for a tough fight. Prograis has 29 wins with 24 coming by way of knockout. He needs to establish his jab early to control distance, keeping Diaz on the end of his punches, before landing his left hand to break Diaz down. A disciplined defensive strategy, including head movement, will be critical to avoid Diaz’s counters.

Diaz will likely seek to negate Prograis’ power by getting inside and working the body. Diaz is an experienced southpaw with good movement and positioning. While he doesn’t possess the same knockout power as Prograis, his high-volume pressure could prove problematic. Diaz will need to slip Regis’ power punches, and then unleash combinations.

Prograis will have to find his earlier form to deliver. He boasts an impressive 82.76% KO rate (24 KOs in 29 wins). In his 2022 win over Jose Zepeda, Prograis averaged 7 jabs landed per round, as he managed to “control distance.” Diaz has fought a considerable 332 rounds compared to Prograis’ 172 in his career, showing his ability to go deep into fights. While he lost to Devin Haney, Diaz landed 113 power punches and threw 397 power punches. The loser knows they will face serious questions over their career.