Two former world champions will attempt to rejuvenate their careers when they square off a week from Saturday night in Chicago.
Golden Boy Promotions announced Wednesday night that
Regis Prograis will face
Joseph Diaz Jr. in a 10-round junior welterweight fight August 2 at Credit Union 1 Arena.
DAZN will stream the bout between Prograis (29-3, 24 KOs) and Diaz (34-7-1, 15 KOs) as its co-feature before Chicago native
Kenneth Sims Jr. and Mexico's
Oscar Duarte meet in the 12-round, 140-pound main event.
Prograis, 36, has lost back-to-back 12-round unanimous decisions to former undisputed lightweight champ
Devin Haney and British southpaw
Jack Catterall. The strong southpaw from New Orleans hasn't fought since Catterall decisively defeated the former WBA/WBC 140-pound champ last October 26 at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
Diaz, 32, ended a three-fight losing streak June 21, when the former IBF junior lightweight champion defeated inexperienced Mexican lightweight Jorge Luis Valencia (6-5-1, 2 KOs) by unanimous decision in an eight-rounder in Tijuana. The 2012 U.S. Olympian from South El Monte, California is 2-6 in his past eight fights, including a ninth-round knockout loss to Duarte in April 2024 at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
Duarte (29-2-1, 23 KOs) and Sims (22-8-1, 8 KOs) were originally scheduled to fight November 16 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Sims withdrew from that bout because he suffered a knee injury while training.
Neither Duarte nor Sims are ranked in The Ring's top 10 for 140-pound contenders, but Sims is ranked No. 4 by the WBA, one spot atop the fifth-rated Duarte.
The Sims-Duarte undercard will also feature cruiserweight Tristan Kalkreuth (15-1, 10 KOs), of Carolton, Texas, in a 10-round bout against Toronto's Kareem Hackett (12-1, 6 KOs).
Heavyweight prospect Joshua Edwards (3-0, 3 KOs), a 2024 U.S. Olympian from Houston, is set to face Cayman Audie (4-1, 2 KOs), of Hinckley, Minnesota, in a six-rounder as well.
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.