Regis Prograis’ strength coach Evins Tobler says they’re ready for the running that Devin Haney will be doing on Saturday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
Tobler has prepared Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) for the track meet that Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) will turn the fight into by fleeing the battlefield once he tastes Regis’ power in the first round.
Evins is confident that the fight won’t go twelve rounds because Prograis is going to track Haney down and knock him out in their main event fight on DAZN PPV.
Tobler doesn’t like the idea that the media is making it out like it’s Haney’s show just because he’s from the Bay Arena and the fight is being staged where he was born in San Francisco as if he’s the champion, and Prograis the challenger.
Tobler says it’s Prograis’ show and Haney is the just the challenger. Haney isn’t the one in the spotlight. He’s just a guy fighting for a belt. Yeah, Haney is the former undisputed lightweight champion, but he was a weak one.
Prograis prepared for Haney’s running
“The media makes it like Haney is from the Bay Area, so it’s his show, but we already know Regis is the champion. It’s his show, ” said Evins Tobler to Fight Hub TV, talking about WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis’ defense against upstart Devin Haney on Saturday night.
Haney was raised near Las Vegas, not in San Francisco. That’s just the place he was born. The reason Haney is getting all the attention is because he’s backed by a powerful promotion, and he’s a former undisputed lightweight champion.
“We knew this was going to be a track meet type of thing. We already know Devin Haney is going to put his wheels on, and we’ve prepared physically to maintain that throughout the entire fight. 24 knockouts. That’s it right there,” said Tobler when asked what’s the difference between Haney getting hit by Prograis from the other 30 fighters he’s faced during his career.”
If Haney cares about Matchroom and the fans, he won’t run from Prograis all bight because this fight is a PPV event on DAZN. Non-subscribers are being charged $75. That’s a lot of money, and it won’t be good for him, Matchroom, fans or DAZN if Haney runs all night like we saw with Shakur Stevenson in his recent fight with Edwin De Los Santos.
“He don’t need any advice. He’s been here. This isn’t the first moment for Regis Prograis. It’s just another fight for Regis Prograis. He feels his back is against the wall. So, if you put an animal against the wall, he comes out fighting, and that’s what’s going to happen on Saturday night,” said Tobler.
“It ain’t going twelve rounds, bro. You can bet that. It ain’t going twelve rounds. I already told him what’s going to happen. You’re going to get the f*** knocked out. That’s what I said, and I mean that,” said Tobler.
The only way Prograis knocks out Haney is if he cuts off the ring, and gets to him to prevent him from running all night because he’s clearly not going to stand and fight. That’s not part of his game. Haney is Mayweather lite, and he never slugs unless it’s a brief thing like we saw in his recent fight against the much smaller Vasily Lomachenko.
Devin hasn’t knocked out any of his best opponents
“I don’t give a s*** what Bill Haney thinks. What I tell Bill Haney is the truth, and sometimes the truth gets people unnerved. They get unnerved. I have never said anything about this fight, about Devin Haney; that wasn’t true.
“If you want to combat that and make me sound like a fool, then you do that, but the truth is the truth. Statistics say Devin Haney ain’t knocked nobody out. He knocked out fifteen or sixteen guys that he should have knocked out.”
Haney’s best opponents:
- Vasily Lomachenko – UD 12
- Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz – UD 12
- Jorge Linares – UD 12
- George Kambosos Jr – UD 12
- Yuriorkis Gamboa – UD 12
Haney obviously isn’t a knockout puncher, and it would be a mistake on his part even to try to slug with Prograis on Saturday night because that could result in him getting stopped.
“His best competition has been only five good real fighters. He didn’t knock them out. He went the distance. These fighters are nowhere near the talent of Regis Prograis,” said Tobler.
“He’s trying to take something from Regis, and it’s not going to happen. It’s the Regis Prograis show, not the Devin Haney show. It’s going to be a good fight, but it’s not going twelve rounds.”
If Prograis’ feet are quick enough to get to Haney, he’s got a chance of knocking him out, but even then, he’ll need to fight through the clinching that he does. Haney is a clincher, as we saw in his fights with Kambosos and Linares. That’s not going to change.
“Regis has worked his a** off for months and months not to come here and lay the f*** down like they think. They think it’s going to be an easy fight for Devin Haney,” said Tobler.
“Ain’t none of this s*** easy for no fighters at this level. Everybody can fight, but this is a different level, and Haney is going to figure that out on Saturday night.
Prograis is going to fight tooth & nail on Saturday, making it a difficult fight for Haney, even if he does choose to run & hold all night. Haney is going to know that he was in a fight afterward. Prograis is no easy out, and he’s going to have to reach deep for him to win this fight.
“He’s going to tuck his tail and run, and that’s what I figure,” said Tobler about Haney once he starts getting hit by Prograis. “The boxing coaches have done their job to prepare him to cut off the ring. His [Prograis] legs are good. He’s never had a problem with his legs.”
Hopefully, Haney doesn’t run, but he’s done it in the past, so it’s predictable that he’ll repeat what he’s always done when facing a puncher.
