The Louisiana Rougarou can shift shape, take souls and slip back under the thick green slime of the swamps that surround the burning lights of New Orleans.

When Regis Prograis wanted a fight name, something that he felt represented him, he picked the Rougarou and then had the hellish mask made, part wolf, part rabid bat and pure New Orleans black magic midnight. The mask will come out this Saturday at the O2 when Prograis fights Josh Taylor for a glittering pile of world title belts.

“There is New Orleans in my blood - I can feel it,” said Prograis, who is the first world champion from the city since Willie Pastrano lost his title in 1965. “The Rougarou is me, it’s my way of warning opponents that I will change, adapt and take everything they have when we fight.” The Big Foot of the Bayou, as the shape-changing monster is often known, has been used by generations of parents to scare their kids.

It has been a bloody, unforgiving road so far to the O2 for Prograis, a journey with so many twists, deaths, uncertainties and violent turns that it is amazing he is here. In 2005, just hours before Hurricane Katrina landed and destroyed large parts of New Orleans, left the city flooded and killed 1,833 people, Prograis and his family fled.

It was his grandma’s idea, Prograis thought it was just another scare, but his grandma had heard the tearful mayor, Ray Nagin, say that the coming storm would be more vicious, powerful and deadly than Hurricane Betsy. “She lived through that and said she would never do it again,” added Prograis. In 1965 Betsy tore through the feeble New Orleans flood defence system, obliterated blocks, especially in the Ninth Ward, and the water surge covered homes and killed 81 people. In New Orleans the annual hurricane season fills nightmares just like the Rougarou.

February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world Show all 16 1 /16 February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world Who is the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world? The ranking of The Independent's 10 best male boxers on the planet. Take a look through to see who comes out on top. Getty Images February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world On the rise: Anthony Joshua Joshua recaptured his world heavyweight titles in dominant fashion, but in a new manner for the Briton: boxing beautifully off the back foot. He is now back in the mix, even if he is just behind Wilder and Fury, to be considered the best heavyweight in the world. All three are just on the outside of our list though until they fight each other AP February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world On the rise: Deontay Wilder Nobody can deny he has a claim as the most powerful puncher pound-for-pound, but despite wiping out Luis Ortiz, the Bronze Bomber needs to beat Tyson Fury clearly to justify a place inside the top 10 here EPA February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world In the mix: Tyson Fury Like Joshua and Wilder before, with a legitimate case to be the No 1 heavyweight in the world, Fury is just on the outside of our top 10 - if he manages to comprehensively beat Wilder - staying away from that big right hand for the full 12 rounds - he will be the first of the trio to leap back inside the top 10 Getty Images February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world On the rise: Josh Taylor (16-0) Josh Taylor's win over Regis Prograis to win the WBSS at 140 pounds was a massive statement - he'll need to become the undisputed light welterweight champion by beating Jose Ramirez to make his place inside the top 10 indisputable Getty Images February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world On the rise: Miguel Berchelt (37-1) Miguel Berchelt smashed Jose Sosa to pieces inside four rounds to defend his WBC super featherweight title - now 37-1 and undefeated since 2014 with 16 consecutive wins and six straight defences AFP via Getty Images February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world 10. Juan Francisco Estrada (39-3-0) The two-weight world champion grabbed the lineal super flyweight title against Sor Rungvisai to snatch his pound-for-pound status and the WBC gold. Getty Images February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world 9. Mikey Garcia (39-1-0) Despite coming up short against Errol Spence in their welterweight bout, Garcia is still a modern great as a four-weight world champion. Getty Images February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world 8. Gennady Golovkin (39-1-1) Despite suffering the first loss of his career against Canelo Alvarez, Golovkin's stellar career keeps him in our rankings. The boxing legend is now a two-time world champion. Getty Images February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world 7. Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2) The Filipino looked sensational to outpoint Keith Thurman, flooring the American and rolling back the years at 40 years old to confirm himself as the No 3 welterweight in the world at worst. Considering the illustrious names on his resume, a place inside the top 10 pound-for-pound list and a world class win this year confirms his place here. AP February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world 6. Errol Spence (26-0-0) Spence beat Shawn Porter to unify the welterweight division as he goes in search of more belts. Danny Garcia looks set to be next. Getty Images February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world 5. Oleksandr Usyk (17-0-0) The undisputed, undefeated, unified cruiserweight world champion has successfully moved up in weight, beating Chazz Witherspoon on his heavyweight debut. Getty Images February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world 4. Naoya Inoue (19-0-0) The man nicknamed the 'monster' beat Nonito Donaire to win the World Boxing Super Series and move to 19-0 after a hard fought battle. Getty Images February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world 3. Terence Crawford (35-0-0) Another three-weight world champion, Crawford enters our top three and reaffirmed his place as one of the sport's greats after a knockout win against Amir Khan. Getty Images February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world 2. Canelo Alvarez (53-1-2) One loss and a whole heap of controversy but Canelo's record is one to be celebrated, a now four-weight world champion and still not even 30 years of age. The biggest star in the sport and an impressive KO win of Sergey Kovalev cements his standing, arguably has a claim to the throne, but he just misses out here. USA TODAY Sports February top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world 1. Vasyl Lomachenko (14-1-0) There can only be one. The king of the amateur game has stepped up to become the king of the professionals. Just 15 fights into his career and despite one career defeat, the current unified lightweight world champion sets records for days. 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“We got out with our bags,” said Prograis. “I had two shorts (pants), two jeans, two socks and two shoes. I had three shirts. That was my life when we left, but I realised that you can’t worry about material things.” It was not a simple journey for Prograis, his grandma and cousins; his mother stayed with her job in New Orleans and his father, they divorced in 2004, went to Detroit. They were all part of a human disaster and exodus that, looking back now, defies logic, thousands of people walking away clutching children, bags and ragged pets as the killer storm approaches at hundreds of miles an hour. The Prograis home on Kuebel Drive in the Lower Ninth Ward vanished in the flood and remains an empty piece of flat land to this day.

Prograis lived in 17 different places, motels, garages, begged living room floors before settling in Houston, a city of refuge for so many Katrina victims. He went to five different high schools. He had started to box just weeks before leaving and he went back to boxing in Houston, hitting bags at the famous Savannah gym as Evander Holyfield was in the ring sparring. “I just had to get on with life,” said Prograis. “I had to keep telling myself that there is no such thing as bad.” Prograis was doing his best against the familiar, sickening elements that can, like the Rougarou, take a young boy forever. He fought 94 times as an amateur, winning 87.

Regis Prograis fights Josh Taylor at the 02 Arena in London (Reuters)

“I live in Houston, but New Orleans will always be my home,” said Prograis, who has the city’s skyline inked across his chest. “I will go back, I will put back, but right now there are just too many distractions in the city for me, now it’s about my boxing career.”

After Prograis turned professional in 2012 he insists that he fought for free or next to nothing five times in his first ten fights; one promoter paid him with a cheque for just one dollar, which he has framed somewhere in his home. “That is the boxing world that people never get to see and that is where I started,” said Prograis, an expert on sacrifice.

Prograis is now unbeaten in 24 fights, 20 have ended quickly and he enters the ring behind his mask holding the WBA and WBC belts at light-welterweight; Taylor is unbeaten in 15 fights and he will be defending his IBF belt. It is a rare, rare fight for a British boxer, a once each generation event, both unbeaten, both world champions.