Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation" was built on a singular premise of prospects facing potentially their toughest test in an attempt to take the next step up the boxing ladder.
Rarely in the 16-year history of the series has a fight fit that description any better than the main event of the next card, when junior welterweight Regis Prograis (19-0, 16 KOs) squares off with Joel Diaz Jr. (23-0, 19 KOs) in a 10-round bout on Friday night (Showtime, 10:30 ET/PT) at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
It's a special Hall of Fame edition of the series because the International Boxing Hall of Fame is a few minutes away in Canastota and on Sunday longtime "ShoBox" broadcasters Barry Tompkins and Steve Farhood will be inducted in the observer category.
Joining them on a tripleheader telecast will be fellow Hall of Famers Al Bernstein, who calls fights for "Showtime Championship Boxing," and ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr., whose father, Jimmy Lennon Sr., also a world-renowned ring announcer, will be inducted posthumously.
But first they'll watch as Prograis, who will be in his fourth "ShoBox" bout, and Diaz, competing in his third, attempt to score their biggest victory and make the jump from prospect status to contender.
The 28-year-old Prograis, a southpaw fighting out of Houston, has knocked out 12 of his last 13 opponents and knows how important the bout is for his career.
"I have worked hard to get here, and I am on a hunt for the title belts," he said. "Diaz is standing in the way of my ultimate objective and I know that I must defeat him to get where I want to be. He needs to get past me to move onto the next level himself, so I am sure he is equally motivated. That is what makes for great fights."
Diaz, 25, of Palmdale, Calif., who has scored seven knockouts in a row, indeed wants to get to the same place in boxing as Prograis.
Rarely in the 16-year history of the series has a fight fit that description any better than the main event of the next card, when junior welterweight Regis Prograis (19-0, 16 KOs) squares off with Joel Diaz Jr. (23-0, 19 KOs) in a 10-round bout on Friday night (Showtime, 10:30 ET/PT) at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
It's a special Hall of Fame edition of the series because the International Boxing Hall of Fame is a few minutes away in Canastota and on Sunday longtime "ShoBox" broadcasters Barry Tompkins and Steve Farhood will be inducted in the observer category.
Joining them on a tripleheader telecast will be fellow Hall of Famers Al Bernstein, who calls fights for "Showtime Championship Boxing," and ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr., whose father, Jimmy Lennon Sr., also a world-renowned ring announcer, will be inducted posthumously.
But first they'll watch as Prograis, who will be in his fourth "ShoBox" bout, and Diaz, competing in his third, attempt to score their biggest victory and make the jump from prospect status to contender.
The 28-year-old Prograis, a southpaw fighting out of Houston, has knocked out 12 of his last 13 opponents and knows how important the bout is for his career.
"I have worked hard to get here, and I am on a hunt for the title belts," he said. "Diaz is standing in the way of my ultimate objective and I know that I must defeat him to get where I want to be. He needs to get past me to move onto the next level himself, so I am sure he is equally motivated. That is what makes for great fights."
Diaz, 25, of Palmdale, Calif., who has scored seven knockouts in a row, indeed wants to get to the same place in boxing as Prograis.
