SAN ANTONIO – Regis Prograis promised Juan Heraldez wouldn’t be able to take his power.

He didn’t need long to prove it Saturday night. Prograis knocked out the previously undefeated Heraldez in the third round on the Gervonta Davis-Leo Santa Cruz undercard at Alamodome.

The powerful southpaw dropped Heraldez with a left hook early in the third round, attacked his vulnerable opponent when he got up and forced referee Rafael Ramos to stop the action 1:23 into the third round.

The 31-year-old Prograis (25-1, 21 KOs), of Katy, Texas, fought for the first time since losing his 140-pound title to Josh Taylor in their championship unification fight a year ago. The 30-year-old Heraldez, who is promoted by Floyd Mayweather’s company, lost for the first time as a pro (16-1-1, 10 KOs).

Following an unremarkable second round, Prograis hit Heraldez with a hard left to his body early in the third round. He blasted Heraldez with the left hook that dropped Heraldez a little less than 50 seconds into that third round.

Heraldez reached his feet, but he couldn’t last much longer.

Prograis caught Heraldez with a left hand just after the midway mark of the first round that made Heraldez move away from him. Prograis landed a straight left to Heraldez’s body and then two lefts up top toward the end of the opening round.

Prograis fought for the first time since suffering his only loss – a 12-round majority decision to Taylor (17-0, 13 KOs) last October 26 at O2 Arena in London. Taylor, who already owned the IBF belt, took the WBA “super” title from Prograis in the final of the World Boxing Super Series’ 140-pound tournament.

Heraldez ended an even longer layoff. Before boxing Prograis, Heraldez hadn’t fought 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. 

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