Regis Prograis is a well-read young man, but he showed immediately after the final bell Friday that he understands math as well.

“(Terence) Crawford did it in three, I did it in two,” Prograis said after dropping Julius Indongo once in the first round and three times in the second to finish him off at the Deadwood Mountain Grand in Deadwood, South Dakota.

The countdown clock began ticking when a right jab from the New Orleans native Prograis (21-0, 18 knockouts) sent Indongo (22-2, 11 KOs) down at the bell to end the first. Prograis switched to his power hand in the second, scoring three knockdowns from his overhand left to force the stoppage at the 2:54 mark, earning him the interim WBC junior welterweight title in the main event of ShoBox.

It was the second straight loss for former IBF/WBA 140-pound titleholder Indongo, 35, of Namibia, following his third-round knockout loss to Crawford last August for the undisputed title.

“I got hit a little too much, but after the first round … I felt his punches — he couldn’t hurt me,” said Prograis, who is now in line to face the winner of the Jose Ramirez-Amir Imam fight next week in New York City for the full title, which is vacant after Crawford moved up to welterweight. “I got a little reckless but I got the job done, so I can’t complain.”

The 29-year-old Prograis, who now resides in Houston, has a lot to feel confident about after his latest performance, and held none of it back in his post-fight interview with Showtime’s Steve Farhood.

“I had to come make a statement,” said Prograis. “The 140-pound division is mine, there’s nobody there that can mess with me.”

Photo by Stephanie Trapp – Showtime

Baranchyk too big, too young for Petrov

Against the most experienced foe of his career, Ivan Baranchyk (18-0, 11 KOs) showed off his class.

Petr Petrov (38-6-2, 19 KOs) stepped in on less than a week’s notice after Swedish fighter Anthony Yigit withdrew with an illness. Petrov gave it an honest effort but couldn’t contend with the massive strength advantage of the 25-year-old Baranchyk, who knocked him down with the first jab of the fight. Petrov, 34, was ruled down again the following round when his glove scraped the canvas during a flurry, and should have been ruled down once more in the third after he took a knee following a series of body punches.

Another right hand in the sixth sent Petrov back down, and by this time his corner and ringside physicians began to consider whether it was time to stop the fight. That moment finally came at 1:12 of the eighth when the referee stepped in during a Baranchyk flurry along the ropes.

It was just the second time that Petrov had been stopped, with the first coming in 2011 against Marcos Maidana.

Opening up the televised card, New Zealand heavyweight Junior Fa (14-0, 8 KOs) won a majority decision over Craig Lewis (14-2-1, 8 KOs) of Detroit, Mich. One judge had it even at 76-76 with the other two scoring it 79-73 and 78-74 for Fa, a 6-foot-5, 256-pound fighter who has been a pro for two years.

Photos by Stephanie Trapp – Showtime (click for larger version)