SAN ANTONIO – Regis Prograis is so confident in his chin, he feels as though opponents can’t hurt him.

The former WBA super lightweight champion claims Juan Heraldez doesn’t have anything resembling the same type of faith in his own ability to take punches. Prograis figures that’s why Heraldez has discussed boxing and not getting hit throughout the promotion of their 10-round junior welterweight fight Saturday night at Alamodome.

“He likes to be slick,” Prograis told BoxingScene.com. “He doesn’t like to get hit. And that’s kind of what he said – he wants to be a boxer, he doesn’t wanna get hit and stuff like that. But with me, you’re gonna get hit. I’m gonna f-cking hit you. So, he’s gonna be in for a rude awakening, man. If you don’t like to get hit, you can’t be in there with me, because I’m going to get to you. We’ve got 10 rounds, so I’m gonna hit him and when I hit you, it f-cking hurts. So, we’ll see. It’s gonna be an interesting night.”

Prograis (24-1, 20 KOs), of Katy, Texas, will fight for the first time on the Gervonta Davis-Leo Santa Cruz undercard since suffering his only loss – a 12-round majority decision to IBF/WBA 140-pound champion Josh Taylor (17-0, 13 KOs) last October 26 at O2 Arena in London. Heraldez (16-0-1, 10 KOs) has endured an even longer layoff, as the North Las Vegas, Nevada, native hasn’t boxed since fighting to a 10-round draw with Dominican veteran Argenis Mendez (25-5-3, 12 KOs, 1 NC) in May 2019 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Heraldez has surprised Prograis with some dismissive comments in the buildup toward their bout, but Prograis believes Heraldez is just uneasy about taking this step up in class.

“This boy is about to be in for a rude awakening,” said Prograis, who was 1½ pounds above the contracted limit of 140 at their weigh-in Friday. “I think he’s nervous. It’s just nerves. He never been on this big stage before. He never fought nobody like me before. So, I think he’s nervous. He doesn’t have no type of confidence in his voice at all. I saw that from the first time when we did the Zoom call. When he looked at me, he didn’t have too much confidence. That’s just something that he lacks a lot. It could be a different type of situation, but I just feel like he doesn’t have the confidence. That’s nerves, basically.”

Showtime Pay-Per-View will air Prograis-Heraldez as the second bout of a four-fight show scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT ($74.99). 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.