By Jeff Zimmerman

It was announced Thursday by Matchroom Boxing and Eddie Hearn, that former world champions at 140, Regis Prograis (24-1 20 KOs) and Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker (27-1-3 18 KOs), will face off at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland on Friday April 17, live on DAZN.

Outside of a 1st round blowout by Hooker in his last fight against Uriel Perez, he and Prograis are coming off losses in career defining fights. Hooker lost a shootout against Jose Ramirez last July in Dallas and Prograis lost in the finals in the World Boxing Series to Josh Taylor this past October. Both were unification bouts at 140.

However instead of taking the easy road and padding their record in easy fights, Hooker and Prograis would rather take their chances against each other.

“I wanted a big fight,” Hooker said at today’s presser. “I’m here to fight the big guys, the big names, to show everybody I am on top and to show I am the best at 140.”

“I feel like this is a make or break fight for me and for him,” said Prograis. “I feel like I really have to win this fight and I have to dominate this fight.”

Both guys, like many fighters out there today, had to overcome a rough start in life that has prepared them for any challenge thrown their way and this matchup is no exception.

Prograis, for one, had to move out of New Orleans as a teenager when Hurricane Katrina engulfed the city with water, but he feels like it has made him a stronger fighter and person, although it may have not always seemed that way at the time.

“Of course, you get impacted as a person, a fighter,” Prograis stated. “It kind of goes hand in hand and just because I had a hard upbringing. First off, it was the best thing to ever happen to me, the Hurricane Katrina thing, looking at my life now.

“But when it happened, it was definitely a hard thing to go through. It happened when I was 16 and that’s when my life changed. When the storm hit, imagine leaving your house and never going back again, ever. I have never been back to my old house and never been back to my old ways. Sometimes change is good for you.”

Prograis added, “I think as a fighter you have to go through a lot of tough times. It builds up character and to go through that at such a young age it made me push. Looking back on my life now, I remember I used to always hit the bag back at home. That’s how I used to get my anger out and it led to this, it led to boxing.”

Hooker didn’t exactly have the best upbringing either as he had to scrap on the tough streets of Dallas as a youth before he found boxing or boxing found him where he basically came from nothing to become world champion when he won the vacant title in Manchester against the hometown favorite Terry Flanagan in June 2018.

Both while both fighters showed tremendous heart in suffering their first career loss, they still decided to make some changes moving forward.

“I have changed up some things in my camp, I am changing some things too,” Prograis stated. “I can’t wait to go out there and prove I am the best at 140.”

Hooker, on the other hand, did a major overhaul to his team as he left long time manager Arnie Verbeek and trainer Vincent Parra after the Ramirez loss and signed up with the powerhouse team in Omaha, Nebraska, led by Brian “Bomac” McIntyre and Terence “Bud” Crawford.

“It’s amazing working with Terence Crawford, Jemel Herring, Steven Nelson, there’s a lot of world champions, just a lot of people in there. We got the Olympic Center just down the street, a lot of good work.”

And if you thought their confidence would be shaken after experiencing their first career loss, that would be a mistake, as both Hooker and Prograis seemed more motivated than ever to prove that they are still the best at 140.

Prograis, in fact, took the Taylor loss in stride and got right back to work upon his return to the States.

“I was back in the gym the next week,” Prograis said. “I haven’t stopped training since. To be honest, I never really thought I could lose a fight, that I feel like I am that good.

“I don’t train to win; I train for dominance. I’m a big fan of Mike Tyson and Cus D’Amato, you don’t train to win a fight, I always train to dominate. So, for me, I felt like there is no way I could lose a fight. I didn’t get the nod; I did lose a fight, so it is just that much more hunger.”

And Hooker got off to good start with his new coach as he blew out his opponent in the opening round of his comeback fight and Coach Bomac liked what he saw.

“Basically, what I assessed is how he trained, how he conducted himself in training camp what I liked about it,” Bomac explained. “The fight was nothing. You can see he came out and took his time, used his jab, he used his reach and that is something we had been working on in camp. For me to see that and what we worked on in camp, I was satisfied. We did more work in camp than we did in the fight. It was harder in camp.”

Both Hooker and Prograis believe they have the winning formula to beat the other in what could become the most exciting non-title fight of the year.

“I want to show the people in my last fight what I learned, but it didn’t go that long,” Hooker explained. “I can use my size, my height advantage, my reach, box him, that’s it.”

Hooker added, “It’s going to be a tough fight at the beginning, but in the middle, I will take over.”

Prograis has his own ideas on how things will turn out April 17 in Maryland.

“I feel like I am so elusive, when I want to box, I can be very, very elusive,” said Prograis. “It depends on what he does and what I do. We will see how the fight plays out.”

“I see that he has a new team and he better have a new team for me, because I am coming.”