Wearing the title belts of the World
Boxing Council’s Interim and Diamond
Championships in the Super Lightweight
Division and ranked #1 in the world in
his 140 lb. weight class, Regis sports
a 23-0 ring record with 19 knockouts
since turning pro nearly seven years ago.
Standing at 5’8” with a 67-inch reach, he
proudly carries the fearsome nickname
of “Rougarou,” the Cajun werewolf, a
mask of which he wears when he enters
the ring.
While awaiting word on when and
where his next fight is going to be, Regis
is eagerly looking forward to the day when
he can wear the title belts of all four of
pro boxing’s sanctioning bodies and be
fully crowned the Super Lightweight
Champion of the World. And other great
things are in store for the hardworking,
ambitious, photogenic 29-year-old
fighter. He was recently signed by the
Churchill Management Group, headed
by Hollywood heavyweight film producer
Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg, and
will be appearing in a movie produced by
them with Wahlberg in the starring role.
Interviewed by phone from his home
in Houston just hours after completing
a sky jump, Regis laughed when asked if
bailing out of a plane at 14,000 feet was
part of his training. “No. Definitely not,”
was the answer. “Actually my promoters
and managers don’t want me doing it but
I just like that type of stuff, so I do it.”
Not only can Regis boast of a perfect
ring record, but he also has never been
knocked down or even close to it. “Not
once,” he proudly emphasizes. “Never
even been hurt,” he adds, a remarkable
achievement for someone who has
endured nearly 100 three-minute rounds
in the professional ring. That multiplies
to between 250 and 300 minutes of
absorbing punches and remaining erect
the whole time.
But, beyond his dream of unifying
all four belts in his weight class, Regis
has an even broader vision: making his
original hometown of New Orleans “The
Boxing Capital of the World,” a title it held
more than a century ago during the era of
John L. Sullivan but has long since relinquished
to New York and most recently
to Las Vegas.
“The main thing I want
to get out there is
that I’m trying
to bring big-time boxing back to New
Orleans,” he declared. “That’s my main
goal and I need everybody behind me on
this. I am the first world champion from
New Orleans since the early ‘60s; since
(light heavyweight) Willie Pastrano. That’s
over 50 years and it’s way too long.”
Regis began his hometown booster
quest in 2018 by staging his last two
fights in front of a local crowd at the
Lakefront Arena with family and friends
in the house. In both contests he was
victorious, TKOing Argentina’s Juan Jose
Velasco in the 8th round on July 14 and
taking a unanimous, 12-round decision
against Great Britain’s Terry Flanagan on
October 27. The first fight was for the
Diamond Championship and the second
one was the quarterfinal round of a WBC
“Super Series” elimination tournament,
the winner of which will wear the
full WBC title belt.
COVER STORY
Mark Wahlberg, Regis Prograis, and
Peter Berg. Photo Courtesy of Regis Prograis
PHOTOGRAPHER: GEOVANNI VELASQUEZ
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