Regis Prograis says he Bill Haney might not be cool with him after he knocks out his son, Devin, on December 9th when he defends his WBC light welterweight title against him at the 18,064-seat Chase Center in San Francisco.
Undisputed lightweight champion Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) has chosen to take a risk with his career by going up to 140 and challenging for a world title in his first fight in the weight class against Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) on DAZN PPV.
Obviously, Bill and Devin have scouted out the 34-year-old Prograis well and feel that he’s beatable, but you never know. They could be wrong. Haney barely won his last fight against Vasily Lomachenko last May despite having a significant weight advantage.
Haney likely chose Prograis because of how poor he looked in his last fight against Danielito Zorrilla last June in his debut with Matchroom Boxing in New Orleans.
Prograis edged Zorrilla, beating him by a twelve round split decision, and he was dropped in the contest. Prograis looked especially bad because he was unable to cut off the ring on Zorrilla, and he was useless when the action was on the outside.
“Probably, but not right now. It depends. After I knock out Devin, it depends on how he feels about me,” said Regis Prograis to the media when asked if he thinks things will be good between him and Bill Haney after his fight with Devin on December 9th.
Obviously, Bill isn’t going to be overjoyed if Prograis knocks out his son, Devin, because all those years of hard work and careful matchmaking will have gone up in smoke. What’s worse is that instead of Haney moving on toward a lucrative fight with Ryan Garcia, he would need to request a rematch.
Prograis isn’t going to help Haney out with that because he’ll want to face Ryan next and get a large payday.
“That’s his son. I got a son. So if someone f***ks his son up, he may feel some type of way, but we’ll see. He’s a deep thinker,” said Prograis. “He’s cool and stuff like that. He always shows respect, but right now, we’re at war. We’re enemies. It ain’t no respect.”
It’ll be interesting to see if Bill muddies the water by claiming robbery if Prograis wins a decision. It’s quite possible that Bill will do that.
“This is what everyone is billing it right now. ‘Skills vs. power.’ Yes, if you put skills vs. power, the skills are going to win,” said Prograis. “No, this is not going to be skills vs. power. This is going to be skills vs. skills, and of course, I can put out people. I have power, too.
“I’m billing this as skills vs. skills. Everyone is saying I just have power. That’s what I want to show people. That’s the plateau that I got over. It’s going to be skill vs. skill. That’s what it’s going to be.
“I’m looking to fight the best Devin. I don’t know how he’s going to respond to hometown stuff. I don’t know. That’s not on me. My goal is to go out and win. So, I’m going out there to focus on what I’m focused on and working on.
“I know, not think; I know that’s going to win fights for sure. I never did a camp so long away from home. When I’m at home, I’m dealing with my kids and all this kind of stuff. I’ve been in LA working, and that’s literally all I’m doing is working. I’m focusing on my craft and working on my goal.
“It’s a big difference. Everything I’ve been focusing on. Sparring, and I’m seeing improvement in myself,” said Prograis.
