Saturday night at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana, in a fight streamed live on DAZN, #1 ranked Regis Prograis (24-0, 20 KOs), the undefeated southpaw from New Orleans, stopped Kiryl Relikh (23-3, 19 KOs), the reigning and defending WBA super lightweight champion from Minsk, Belarus, at 1:36 of round six of a scheduled 12.
Fighting out of the blue corner in red trunks with black trim, Prograis wasted no time putting some hurt on the champ. A desultory opening round turned into a battlefield when Relikh failed to protect himself after injuring his hand, and referee Luis Pabon was slow to step in, and Prograis, whose killer instinct if off the charts, dropped the Belarusian moments before the bell ended the round.
Relikh, fighting out of the red corner in red and black trunks, came into the bout with expectations that he would present Prograis? his toughest challenge yet in his young career. But it was not to be. Prograis, after depositing Relikh to the canvas in round in, drew first blood with a cut on the bridge of Relikh?s nose in round two, and the one-sided punishment continued.
With his blazing hand speed and superior conditioning, Prograis had his way with the soon-to-be former champion, landing precision jabs and straight lefts at will.
The slaughter continued for round after round. With Relikh not firing back and eating punches at an alarming rate, his corner threw in the towel to save their fighter from further harm.
?That?s a tough-ass dude,? said Prograis after the fight. ?He?s never been stopped, he barely ever lost and I fucking just dominated the whole time.
?I told y?all, I?m the fucking real deal. These li?l boys at 140 cannot fuck with me. I am the best.?
One might not approve of his language, but Prograis sure as hell can fight.
