Eddie Hearn is hoping to lure WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez to Manchester after Jack Catterall’s victory last night (October 26) over Regis Prograis.

 

Catterall defeated Prograis in what seemed, at first, to be a dull affair, although the contest soon caught fire in its second half. The fans inside the new Co-op Live Arena in Manchester were treated to a terrific clash after Prograis dropped Catterall in Round 5. Catterall returned to his feet and went on to press the action for the majority of the fight, dropping Prograis twice in the ninth. 

 

“Firstly, we all want a firefight, don’t we?” said Hearn. “After three or four rounds I’m kind of thinking, ‘This is cagey.’ I don’t mind watching fights like that because I find it fascinating. However, the 8,000 people in there just want a tear up. 

 

“All of a sudden, the knockdown comes, and it starts to get a bit juicier in the fifth. At the halfway stage I had it very close, maybe Regis just edging it with the knockdown, and then all of a sudden Jack just changed the fight – that switched up the excitement levels.”

 

Prograis, now 35, has been in with some of the best fighters in the division after he narrowly lost to Josh Taylor in 2019 and was well beaten by Devin Haney last year. Though Haney was the one to beat Prograis most decisively, it was Catterall who he named as the best he had fought.

 

“[Prograis] said after, ‘This is the best guy I have ever fought by a mile.’” Hearn said. “I think Jack Catterall is one of the most underrated fighters in the world. I think sometimes the style to the casual means they don’t necessarily understand how good he is.”

 

In the ring after the contest, Hearn called for a world title shot for Catterall and made it clear who would be his dream choice: “I would love to bring Teofimo Lopez to Manchester as well and give him a good arse kicking,” said Hearn.

 

Later on, Hearn admitted that bringing Lopez to Manchester could be hard given the pair’s history. Lopez felt he unfairly had his lightweight titles taken away from him when he lost to George Kambosos on a Matchroom Boxing show in 2021.

 

“With regards to Teofimo Lopez, I’ve said we’d love to spank him, but he is a very good fighter,” Hearn said. “He’s a massive star, and I doubt he would come to Manchester, but it would be some night – imagine bringing Teofimo Lopez to the UK.

 

“It is unlikely for Teofimo Lopez to come to the UK,” he added. “He’s still blaming me for his George Kambosos defeat when we promoted the show in Madison Square Garden. If it went 12 rounds, I’d actually leave the arena before the scores are read out.

 

“Jack is sitting at number two [with the WBO]; I think this is going to move him closer to that number one position. Who knows what Teofimo is going to do? I see him probably moving up to 147; he’s got the legal dispute with Top Rank. Maybe Jack fights the winner of Barbosa vs. Ramirez for the vacant title.” 

 

Hearn admitted that an in-house matchup against the winner of IBF champion Liam Paro vs. Richardson Hitchins could be the safest bet in terms of securing Catterall a title shot.

 

“We do have two guys fighting for the IBF title on December 7th in Liam Paro and Richardson Hitchins,” Hearn said. “So, can we bring that world championship fight here? Obviously, Liam Paro is going to say, ‘Well what about Australia?’ Which is obviously something we’ll look at as well. 

 

“If Hitchins wins, he’s going to say, ‘What about New York?’ Which is something we’ll look at as well. Jack’s in a great position. When you look at his last 11 months, Linares, Taylor, Prograis – he really does deserve a shot.”