Like him or loathe him, and there seems to be no real in-between with “The Dream,” Devin Haney looked sensational last night in shutting out Regis Prograis over 12 rounds of at times quite beautiful boxing. Haney, who took Prograis’ WBC 140 pound title with relative ease (it’s never easy in there, but special fighters have the gift of being able to make it LOOK easy). The former lightweight champ won by lopsided scores of 120-107 across the board, and Haney is now a perfect 31-0(15) and the 25 year old is already laying claim to The Fighter of the Year award.
That’s still up for grabs, as is whether or not Haney is a future superstar. But in doing what he did to a very good, proven fighter in Prograis, now 29-2(24), Haney may have both things in the bag. Haney struggled against the brilliant Vasiliy Lomachenko back in May, and that close, debatable points win might prevent Haney from picking up FOTY award, but the future sure looks immensely bright for the man from San Francisco.
Eddie Hearn said before last night’s fight that the winner would go on to be a superstar, and maybe the promoter will be proven correct. Haney has it all – speed, grace, amazing all-round skill, personality, a willingness to fight the very best. Yes, Haney has it all apart from one thing: punching power. Will this prevent Haney from becoming a superstar, the Face of Boxing?
Already, Ryan Garcia has called Haney out, and Garcia has also refereed to Haney’s lack of pop. Garcia says he is certain he can beat him. Maybe this will prove to be a super-fight next year. It could be all super-fights for Haney from here on out. The 140 pound division has a number of fine fighters and potential big fights for Haney, while “The Dream” is both big enough and tall enough to make the move to welterweight, perhaps even light-middleweight.
Haney was a joy to watch last night, his lack of firepower not taking anything away from his superb showcasing of The Sweet Science. Haney has that special look about him. It really does seem as though the struggle of making the 135 pound limit (a weight Haney had been making for many years, the effort taking its toll on his body) was holding Haney back. We might have seen just a look, a pretty big look, at how great Haney can become.
It’s quite scary to think that the flawless boxer we saw shutting out and shutting down Prograis has not reached his prime yet; maybe not by a long way.
Haney, right now, has that look of a fighter who may never lose. The Loma fight aside (and what a shame these two will not fight a rematch, what with Haney being far too big for Loma), there is nothing you can points at with regards to Haney having any weaknesses. And again, making 135 for the Lomachenko fight may have had a lot to do with the closeness of that fight (taking nothing away from Loma’s brilliant performance).
The question now is, who next for Haney? And can anyone at 140, and beyond, beat him?