On April 11 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Conor Benn had his first fight since leaving Matchroom Boxing, defeating Regis Prograis by unanimous decision. In the build-up to this fight, speculation reigned regarding the fitness of Prograis and his willingness to fight. The American has now appeared on Fight Hub TV and made a stunning admission regarding the April 11 showdown with Benn.
Conor Benn defeats Regis Prograis on April 11 in London
On April 11, Conor Benn (25-1, 14 KOs) fought for the first time after leaving Matchroom Boxing and signing for Zuffa Boxing in a $15 million one-fight deal, covered by Turki Alalshikh.
“The Destroyer” faced Prograis (30-4, 24 KOs) at a 150-pound catchweight. The noise as he made his way to the ring was deafening and positive for Benn. He started brightly and remained in control, with Prograis looking unsteady at various points throughout, suggesting an existing injury, which had been widely rumoured before.
The fight felt pedestrian for the most part, with the crowd sounding restless at different stages. Prograis did have his moments, catching Benn coming in. The fight ultimately went the distance, with the scorecards reading 98-92 x3, all in favour of Benn.
Regis Prograis makes stunning admission after Conor Benn defeat
Reflecting on his defeat to Conor Benn, Regis Prograis gave a stunning admission:
“I didn’t want to take the fight. I did not want to fight. I was terrified to fight. I did not want to fight, bro. I never felt like this in my life. I did not want to fight. I didn’t want to fight so bad; I was gonna pull out the day of the fight. Before I even came to London, I didn’t want to fight. I got there and just kept pushing myself. One thing I know about me, bro, if I didn’t fight, I would have regretted that for the rest of my life.
“You saw the Rocky movie when Rocky fought Antonio Tarver. He wanted to prove to himself one last time what he could do. And I felt like that’s exactly what I did. I knew I was gonna lose the fight going into the fight. I didn’t even care about winning; I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do this.
“Conor Benn is younger, he’s hungry, he’s strong, he’s a bigger fighter, I just wanted to go in there and prove that I’m still me, I can still be tough, and I can take a punch, and I’m not gonna lie, Conor Benn hits very hard. But I just stood there, and I just wanted to prove to myself that I can still do this at least one more time.
“I can go in there with a younger dude, a bigger dude, a stronger dude. Everybody said he was gonna walk through me and knock me out, and none of that stuff happened. I took the shots. I took his best shots, and I walked through it. And I wanted to prove to myself that I could do that one last time.”