This Saturday’s Triller Fight Club PPV event at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta is going to be a show.
The main event features Jake Paul vs. Ben Asken, and the co-main event brings just as much heat as Regis Prograis will take on Ivan Redkach in a 10-round, super lightweight battle.
Prograis, a Louisiana native, emerged from the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina to find a second home and supportive community in Houston. The self-titled “Rougarou,” (Louisiana French for ‘werewolf’, which pays homage to his grandfather, who is of Native American descent) sports the head mask of the legendary Louisiana swamp creature. He also has strong ties to Hollywood as he is represented by the LA-based management company owned by actor Mark Wahlberg and producer/director Peter Berg.
But Prograis is far from Hollywood this week. Make no mistake about it. When the former world super lightweight champion enters the ring to face Redkach on Saturday, his hands will do the talking.
Prograis held the WBA light-welterweight title in 2019 and the WBC interim light-welterweight title in 2018. He enters this weekend’s matchup as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in his class, a top three of four pick on every list. His impressive 83.3% knockout-to-win ratio makes him a fan favorite, as does his open-minded talk about the boxing business, the need for change, and his welcoming of the Triller Fight Club platform into a business that has had a spike in popularity in recent years but is certainly in need of some additional disruption and nonconformity.
That’s where the worlds of Prograis, a popular undercard fixture with a solid following an eye on flamboyance and entertainment, converge. His presence, along with some other young faces like Lorenzo Simpson, will help offset some of the show’s novelties, like MMA champion Frank Mir’s entry into boxing, or hotshot entrepreneur Joe Fournier giving Latino music star Raykon a fighting lesson.
“My team has been trying to do something like this a long time ago, where it’s an event. Where it’s not just regular boxing. You have an event with performers,” said Prograis. “Boxing has been needing something like this to happen and I am glad to be a part of it.”
Prograis, and those involved with the promotion, hope that the mix of novelty, solid fights, elite music acts (Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, etc.), and engaging personalities like Mario Lopez and Pete Davidson, will drive audiences to the up and coming entity. With a crowded weekend in the fight game, Triller looks to capture audiences that are a little unconventional, mirroring personalities such as Prograis.
“People who want to sit back and just watch a boxing show, that audience is limited,” he added during the promotion’s press conference in las Vegas a few weeks ago. “We need to think big and expand, go where younger people are following, engage with them the way they want to be engaged and then show them how intense these fights can be. That’s where I think this is headed and that’s why I wanted to be a part of this.”
Being a part of the big stage and big talent will help buoy the young fighter’s appeal in the coming months. He has been on the comeback trail since suffering his lone defeat to Josh Taylor in October 2019 at the O2 Arena in London, and he has his sights set on recapturing the belt as he gears up for a potentially big night on Saturday.
“Where I go and what I do next, that will take care of itself if I take care of business with this fight with Triller,” he said while in Las Vegas. “My team has the path, and I will stay focused on getting back to where I should be.”
To do that, he will need to stay focused. Entertainment mogul and Triller owner Ryan Kavanaugh has frequently pointed out the exposure benefits a rising fighter like Regis can get- quadrupling his social following, being seen by a young group of fans who might not know him, and using the Triller connections to amplify his persona out of the ring.
But in the end, a fighter needs to fight. “My other interests, sure they will be helped by this,” he concluded. “But none of that matters if I don’t deliver.”
Internet fame and boxing can only go so far, and Regis Prograis wants to make sure people come for the sizzle and see the steak as well.
For more information on this event, check out Trillerfightclub.com.
