A huge-looking Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) put on a boxing clinic, defeating WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs) by one-sided shutout, beating him by a lopsided twelve round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
In the third round, Haney landed a perfectly timed right hand that dropped the 34-year-old Prograis on the seat of his hands. From there, it was a complete and utter domination by the 25-year-old Haney, as he outboxed a very slow & old-looking Prograis to win an easy decision.
The judges scored it 120-107, 120-107, and 120-107.
Haney hurt Prograis in the ninth round, but let him off the hook in the same way he did in the third. It was strange because Haney could have likely finished him if he’d gone for the kill but decided to play it safe.
Boxing 247 will be giving live updates & results below of tonight’s card from the Chase Center in San Francisco.
– In the chief support bout, the hard-hitting, light welterweight Liam Paro (24-0, 15 KOs) massacred an overmatched Montana Love (18-2-1, 9 KOs) in a sixth round TKO victory.
Paro took his time, picking apart Montana slowly through the first five rounds. In the sixth, Paro flattened Montana with an uppercut. Montana got back up, but moments later, the Aussie Paro knocked him down for a second time with a hard combination to the head.
When the action resumed, Paro unloaded with a final flurry to get the stoppage, with referee Thomas Taylor stopping the contest at 1:49 of the sixth.
Early on, the crowd left the two fighters know that they weren’t happy with the lack of action, as both guys were boxing and not going for it. It’s understandable why Montana was hesitant to throw, as he felt the power of Paro early and wanted not part of mixing it up.
– Lightweight prospect Andy Cruz (2-0, 1 KO) beat Jovanni Straffon (26-6-1, 19 KOs) by a third round knockout. Cruz hit Straffon with everything but the kitchen sink to get the knockout victory.
It was a decent performance from the 28-year-old Cruz, but not the type of effort that suggests that he’s ready to be put in with champions Gervonta Davis or Shakur Stevenson.
The power just isn’t there for Cruz, and his finesse style of fighting won’t work against the better contenders in the division like Raymond Muratalla.
– Ebanie Bridges (9-2, 3 KO’s) suffered her second career defeat, losing to Myo Yoshida (17-4) by a ten round unanimous decision in a battle for the IBF bantamweight title.
The scores were 99-91, 99-91 and 97-93. Bridges, 37, fought well early on but faded in the second half and wound up getting dominated.
– Middleweight Amari Jones (10-0, 9 KOs) beat Quilisto Madera (14-5, 9 KOs) by a 5th round knockout. Amari teed off on Madera in the fifth round to get the knockout. The fight was stopped at the 1:44 mark.
– Super featherweight Beatriz Ferreira (4-0, 2 KOs) beat Destiny Jones (5-2, 2 KOs) by an eighth round knockout. The bout was halted at 0:05.
Devin Haney is ultra-confident for tonight’s fight against WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis, believing he’s going to unseat the 140-lb belt-holder in their bout on DAZN PPV in San Francisco. This should be a fight filled with fireworks. The Haney vs. Prograis event starts at 8:00 p.m. ET.
A win for the 25-year-old Haney over Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) will make the San Francisco native a two-division world champion and increase his star power.
Ideally, what Haney needs is a knockout win to put his stamp on the victory, as he can’t afford another contested decision like fans saw in his last fight against Vasily Lomachenko.
The results of that encounter left a bad taste in the mouths of fans, giving them the impression that Haney is artificially propped up to create a fake star.
Devin can’t afford to be bailed out by the judges again tonight against Prograis because it would make it clear that he’s getting special treatment.
Haney promises to embarrass Prograis tonight
“It would do everything for me. First of all, I’m making history for me being a two-division champion. So that’s big,” said Devin Haney to Stephen A. Smith when asked what it’ll mean to him to defeat WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis tonight.
“For this fight, a lot of people are going to be surprised at how badly I beat Regis Prograis,” said Devin in his prediction for tonight. “We know what he’s coming to do, but he doesn’t know what I’m coming to do.”
It’s safe to say that Prograis knows exactly what Haney will do tonight, as he’s going to use these tactics to try and win:
- Hold
- Move
- Jab
- Rough-up
- Frustrate
If Haney chooses to trade bombs with Prograis tonight as he did in his fights with Vasily Lomachenko and Jorge Linares, it won’t end well for him. Regis hits too hard, and his counter-punching style is made for that kind of a fight.
“I want to put a beating on him and show the world how much better I am at 140, how much stronger, how much faster, and how much better of a fighter I am,’ said Haney on what he plans on doing against Prograis. “So tune in; it’s going to be fireworks from me. I’m coming in to hurt him.
“However they want to put it, I‘m going to embarrass him. He has his eyes set on a knockout and his one-punch and putting pressure and trying to do this and trying to do that. I’m going to embarrass him,” said Haney about what’s in store for Prograis in their headliner tonight on DAZN PPV.
“Embarrass” isn’t the right word for what Haney will do against the 34-year-old Prograis. A better word would be, ‘Frustrate,’ as that’s clearly what he’s going to be doing.
“We got to see what’s next. I’m looking at the 147-lb division. We’re looking to see what they have. I may explore some fights there. We have some stuff up our sleeves for sure,” said Haney on what his plans are if he’s victorious tonight against Prograis.
Haney could move up and take on former WBA/WBC welterweight champion Keith Thurman if he’s victorious tonight. The 35-year-old Thurman is obviously past it and forgotten by fans, but the older people who remember him from when he was fighting regularly seven years ago will be excited about that match-up.
“100%, but I can’t force these guys to get in the ring with me, for one, and two, I can’t force myself to make the weight,” said Haney on the 135-lb division being one where some of the biggest fights would be available to him.
“My body has outgrown the weight. There’s nothing I can do. I stayed at 135 as long as I possibly could. I should have moved up,” Devin continued. “It was more about bragging rights and proving people wrong, but I’m at the point where I’ve accomplished everything at 135.
“I became undisputed, and the guys weren’t eager to get in the ring with me at 135. So, now I’m at the point where I’m at 140 and possibly 147. If I’m victorious in this fight, we’ll see what’s next,” said Haney.
All time great aspirations
“I wouldn’t say I’m an all-time great yet, but I’m definitely headed in that direction. Sugar Ray Leonard, Muhammad Ali, Floyd [Mayweather Jr], Roy Jones, old throwback fighters like Ezzard Charles, Sugar Ray Robinson,” said Haney when asked who he patterns his fighting style after. I study the greats.
“I talk to a lot of fighters, but I would say Zab Judah. He’s been mentoring me since I was a young kid. I got to see him on the back end of his career and be there with him. I would say jab,” said Haney on which fighters he’d leaned on for advice about his career.
“He loves what I’m doing. We’d be in the gym training together. Everything that we set out to do, we’re doing, and he’s happy with that, and I’m happy too,” said Haney.