Shakur Stevenson praises Catterall for his “Hit And Don’t Get Hit” performance against Prograis

Shakur Stevenson praised Jack Catterall for his “Hit and don’t get hit” style he used to defeat former WBA and WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis last Saturday night in Manchester, England.

Catterall (30-1, 13 KOs), who has been referred to as the ‘British Shakur’ for the amount of running he does and has a boring fighting style, he used the big ring last night to hold off the hard-hitting Prograis (29-3, 24 KOs) winning a 12-round unanimous decision at the Co-op Live Arena.

It’s no surprise that Shakur praises Catterall after his performance for being a carbon copy of him, albeit a Dollar tree version and not quite as elusive as the genuine Newark model. However, Catterall’s style matches Shakur’s to make him almost as boring to fans, who were highly critical of how dull he made the fight due to his running.

Some fighters at 140 and 135 would have beaten Catterall last Saturday night without any problems, but those guys were conveniently not selected by promoter Eddie Hearn.

Catterall is the type of fighter who needs to be carefully matched to prevent him from losing. If he is put in with someone who knows how to cut off the ring, chase down a runner and target the body, he will lose. Prograis had none of those things going for him, which is why he was chosen for Catterall.

Prograis felt he could have won

“I know that if I just got at him one clean (I would have knocked him out),” Regis Prograis said. Boxing News on whether he felt he could have knocked out Jack Catterall had he connected with a big shot last Saturday night.

Prograis staggered Catterall once in the fight, but he lacks the combination of punches and foot speed to chase him down when he starts running. Prograis didn’t seem to practice how to cut off the ring or handle a runner like Catterall. He should have been more prepared than he showed last night for a Class-A runner like Catterall.

“I hurt him a few times. I know I hurt him a few times, and it was like right there. But he had a game plan, and he moved around the ring,” Prograis continued, talking about Catterall. “I saw how big the ring was when I walked up to the ring. So, I understood, ‘Okay, this is what they’re going to do. They’re going to try to move around,’ but I was prepared for that.”

Regis was not prepared

Prograis should have known better than to agree to fight Catterall in England. Going into enemy territory, it was only natural that it would be set to favor their fighter; hence the big ring for the runner to move around all night and play keep away for 12 boring laps. He would have won if Prograis could cut off the ring and race into the night.

He got into trouble for being so tentative with his attacks. He waited too long instead of jumping on Catterall from round one and chasing him non-stop for three minutes. Even with Prograis being an older fighter, he still could have won if he rushed the entire fight and peppered him with club shots when he would clinch. He should have studied Artur Beterbiev’s fighting style for this clash to learn how to handle a runner.

“Just get back up and show them I’m not hurt. That was the main thing, but then I rolled my ankle and my knee. I don’t know if it was when I dropped or when we both fell together,” Prograis said when asked what was going through his mind after dropping in the ninth round.

“When we both fell together I rolled my knee, but I know one of those times I rolled my knee and my ankle. I just don’t know when. I know it was the later rounds for sure, but I just don’t know when it was,” Prograis said.

That fight was a lost cause for Prograis long before he suffered a knee or ankle injury. He looked shell shocked after dropping x 2 in the 9th round which saw his already low work rate drop to nothing. Furthermore, Catterall used even more movement in rounds 10 to 12 to ensure that Prograis didn’t clip him with anything if he had any ideas.

Again, a fighter with the ability to cut off the ring would have knocked Catterall out because he showed he can be hit when backing up. Catterall’s offense was non-existent when he ran. He couldn’t throw on the run and got hit with some stupid stuff from the slow Prograis when he was being chased.

“I think he’s a lot better than people think he is,” Prograis said of Catterall. “He has an awkward style. He does have sneaky power. He doesn’t have great power, but he does have sneaky power to the point where it’s going to hurt, no matter what.”

Catteroll is hard to beat, not very fast, not super strong, but he knows how to hit don’t get hit.. Respect!!

— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) October 26, 2024