"This is probably the best camp Regis has had. He is ready to go. I think he's ready now for the best in the world," stated Bobby Benton, trainer of jr. welterweight contender Regis Prograis, who talked about their upcoming clash with Joel Diaz Jr. Check out what he had to say about Diaz Jr., the fight, and much more.
BOBBY BENTON DISCUSSES REGIS PROGRAIS VS. JOEL DIAZ JR.:
For this camp, he's got a lot more focus to him. Not that he was ever not focused or had issues with focusing throughout his career, but you can see the fire for this one. He knows this is a real fight, so it's almost like you can see 120% instead of 100%. I look forward to matching wits with his trainer and father and I feel like I have one of the best fighters in the world. I believe he can beat anybody given the opportunity. I know a picture surfaced of Joel Diaz Jr. being out there in Mexico with Shannon Briggs, who tested positive for PEDs. That's up to VADA to do their job, you know. We trained hard and we are ready to fight, that's it. That's not really my concern. As long as they do their job, then everything should be fine. There is always suspicion when you see something like that, but we can't worry about that. VADA is supposed to test us and them; we're clean, so we have no concerns about that.
I think that this is what Regis needed, this kind of fight. I think Joel Diaz Jr. is going to bring out the best Regis Prograis. He needed this kind of fight to light the fire. Joel Diaz Jr. is not an easy fight, but if Regis does what he's supposed to do, he can make it an easy fight. Watching film on Diaz Jr., he's tough as nails, he has no quit in him, he's a beast and he has a great amateur pedigree too. He has what it takes, but style-wise, he does what we like. He comes to you. It can showcase Regis' boxing ability. He can punch, but he's not a devastating knockout puncher. It's definitely going to be a tough fight.
I think this is the type of fight that would set Regis up to be in a good place in the 140-pound division. There are a lot of good fights to be made in the division and a lot of good guys there. Postol is still there and I think a lot of people have kind of forgotten about him and Amir Imam, who are both good guys still. Felix Diaz can brush himself off and get back in the mix. He's still a tough guy. There is no shame in losing to Crawford. But hopefully we can end up in a fight with Crawford. I know we still got work to do, but that's where you want to be. You want to fight and beat the best. If Regis doesn't get touched the whole fight, that would make me happy (laughing).
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