Regis Prograis says he suspects that Devin Haney has PTSD, and will make it “boring” by staying on the move all night in his title challenge against the WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. on November 22nd.
Prograis predicts that Haney (32-0, 15 KOs) will move “everywhere” in the ring and focus on throwing quick one-twos against Norman Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs).
Why Haney Will Run All Night
“Devin doesn’t care about making the fight not boring. He’s going to hit, run, jab, and maybe one-two him,” said Regis Prograis to Fight Hub TV, picking Devin Haney over Brian Norman Jr. in a boring fight on November 22nd. “He doesn’t have to make it exciting at all. I would go with Devin.
Haney should want to make it entertaining for the fans after the criticism he received for his last performance, but he can’t afford to take any chances against Norman Jr. He hits too hard, and would make quick work of him if he were to take the risk. With his power, he could destroy Haney in one or two rounds. If Haney was getting staggered early in the first round against Ryan Garcia, just imagine what Norman Jr. will do to him if he lands early.
“You saw his last fight. He’s going to try to hit and move everywhere he can for 12 rounds. Devin is not coming to try to knock anybody out,” said Regis.
There’s no chance that Haney will change that style, going against arguably the hardest puncher in the 147-lb division, Norman Jr. This could be really boring for the fans on Bovember 22nd. Thankfully, David Benavidez and Artur Beterbiev are on the same card in separate fights. After Haney’s last performance against Jose Ramirez, Turki Alalshikh should have insisted on a discount rate for this one from him.
“I don’t think he should do that. You should fight your fight,” said Regis when asked if Norman Jr. should try to box Haney instead of slugging.
It would be insane for Norman Jr. to try outboxing Haney instead of using his punching power to dominate him. The chances are, he’d come up short and wind up losing a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision to Devin.
Why would Norman Jr. change the style that has brought him so much success up to this point just because he’s fighting a pure boxer with no power? If anything, Norman Jr. just be even more aggressive than usual, and train on how to cut off the ring against a mover.
Prograis Suspects Haney Has PTSD
“Yeah, I do feel that way,” said Prograis when asked if Devin has PTSD from his fight against Ryan Garcia in 2024.
Haney definitely fought like a boxer with a bad case of PTSD with the way he ran around the ring against the faded ex-former WBC and WBO light welterweight champion Jose Ramirez at the May 2nd event in Times Square, New York City.
“He fought that way against [Jose] Ramirez. I don’t want to say Ramirez is old and washed up. Ramirez is older, and he just ran away from him. There were times in the fight where a minute went by and nothing was thrown. It was just foot movement,” said Prograis.
The amount of movement against Ramirez showed that Devin has no faith in his ability to take a punch. It was hard for fans to watch Haney circle the ring for 12 rounds in a fight that was shown on DAZN PPV. It was after that event that Turki Alalshikh announced his no Tom and Jerry fights mandate for his shows. No fighter has dared to fight like that on any of Turki’s shows since.
“Maybe he does have PTSD, but now, he’s going up against a big puncher. You got to think if he did that against Ramirez, what do you think he’s going to do against Brian Norman?” said Prograis about Haney.
It’s obvious that Haney will be moving nonstop against Norman Jr. just like he did against Jose Ramirez, but likely a lot more. Devin has been using a lot of movement and clinching in his fights since he was hurt against Jorge Linares.
He’d stuck with that style in his fights against George Kambosos Jr., Vasily Lomachenko, and Prograis. When Haney deviated from that style against Ryan Garcia, he was hurt again. In his last fight against Jose Ramirez, Haney returned to his safety-first defensive style
