Former junior welterweight world titlist Maurice Hooker has decided to move up in weight.
According to his trainer Brian McIntyre, the anticipated matchup against Regis Prograis, which was originally scheduled for April 17 and then postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, will not take place at all.
The bout was previously scheduled for a catchweight of 143 pounds, but Hooker and his team have made the decision to move up to welterweight.
"We've got to," said McIntyre, adding that the strain of cutting back down to 143 pounds was something he just didn't want to put his fighter through.
After losing his belt in a unification bout last July, a sixth-round TKO against Jose Ramirez, Hooker (27-1-3, 18 KOs) faced Uriel Perez on Dec. 20. Weighing in at 144.25 pounds, he scored a first-round knockout.
"So when the fight came up [against] Prograis, I figured we could make it," McIntyre said. "Then when the pandemic came, we kind of dodged a bullet, right there. So I'm not going to let him go back down, knowing he's struggling, and the reality is he wasn't going to make the weight the last time."
The trainer said Hooker came to camp in Omaha, Nebraska, a few weeks ago and that his boxer is currently walking around at 168 pounds.
Prograis (24-1, 20 KOs) and his representatives have made it clear that the fight against Hooker will take place only at the weight they had agreed upon previously.
"From our side, we're not going above 143," said Churchill Management's Sam Katkovski, who represents Prograis. "Regis wants to stay at 140, he has unfinished business at 140. Our goal is to stay there. One hundred forty-three was already a concession to them because it was a good fight. They can't make weight with three months of a pandemic and three more months of training?
"I'll tell you this: I just think he blew away his retirement check if he's trying to pull out of the fight."
Katkovski said he originally wanted to see if this fight could be for a title eliminator, but was told by Hooker's team that they would need three full months to get all the way down to the junior welterweight limit.
"So now," Katkovski said, "you're coming to me and saying you can't make the weight in three months?"
Prograis, the former WBA champion, was engaged in one of the best fights of 2019 against Josh Taylor in the finals of the World Boxing Super Series junior welterweight tournament. Prograis came out on the short end of a majority decision.
"My fighter is a junior welterweight," Katkovski said. "The goal is to fight Josh Taylor, Jose Ramirez, or any other guy that considers himself a top 140-pounder. If those guys don't want to fight, we'll find whoever the hell wants to fight him."
As for Hooker, McIntyre was optimistic about the competition ahead at 147.
"I don't want to shy away from good competition, because Prograis is good competition," McIntyre said. "We don't want to shy away from that. We want it to be known that Mo is going to be a player in the '47 pound division."