Championship boxing returned to the Bay Area this past weekend when Devin “The Dream” Haney took on WBC World Super Lightweight Champion Regis “Rougarou” Prograis at downtown San Francisco’s Chase Center. There was a lot of banter and low blows thrown during the lead-up to this fight that added to the drama of Haney’s return to his birth city, which would also be the first Championship fight there since 2001.
The former undisputed four-belt champion (29-0) Haney shared his reasoning for moving up from 135 lbs. to challenge the 140 lbs. World Super Lightweight Champion (29-1) Prograis for his WBC belt, when he stated, “I want to be great and make the best fights possible.” Well, Haney showed boxing fans his greatness on Saturday night when he put on a clinic while beating up Prograis in dominating fashion to become a two-division champion.
If you were scoring this fight, the first round would have been the closest one. Prograis attempted to land his early punches, yet Haney’s footwork and quickness allowed him to gracefully avoid Prograis’ punches. Haney then displayed his hand speed and sharpness by connecting with his counterpunches. Though this round would be tough to score, it was a preview of what was to come.
Seemingly, undeterred by not connecting much in the initial round, Prograis opened the second round by trying to connect with a couple of looping left-hand haymakers. Showing his quickness and preparedness, Haney avoided these potentially damaging blows and caught him with a strong right-hand punch that caught Prograis’ attention when it landed on his forehead and slowed down any confidence he had coming into the fight.
This fight was essentially decided early in the third round when Prograis attempted to hit Haney with another looping left hand. Yet Haney showed off his footwork, speed, and power by eluding the punch and connecting with a straight right hand of his own that staggered Prograis and forced him to touch the canvas with his left hand, recording the only knockdown of the fight.
From then on Prograis was unable or unwilling, most likely the latter, to close the gap on Haney. Haney’s hand speed, footwork, counterpunching ability, and surprising power proved too much for the former WBC World Super Lightweight Champion. The fight went the distance, with Haney showing off his array of talents throughout the fight. After pivoting out of the corner, Haney nearly dropped Prograis again in the ninth round by connecting with powerful counterpunches
Leaving Prograis to say after the fight, “That mother-f***ker good! He’s better than I thought,” said Prograis. “His speed is faster and quicker than I thought it was.”
Haney showed quickness and dominance that not many have seen from him, and this not only showed up in the ring but in the Compubox score, which recorded him landing 129 total punches to Prograis’ 36. This gave him a punch-landed percentage of 35% to 10% and would establish a new record for the least amount of punches landed by a fighter over 12 rounds.
“That was a clinic of a performance,” said Haney’s Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearns.
“I did everything at 135 that I could,” Haney said about his plans. “The biggest fight for me was making that Gervonta Davis fight, and his side showed no interest in making the fight. I’ve outgrown the division, so now I make my quest to 140 to become a two-division champion.”
I thought coming into this fight, Haney would outpoint Prograis to win. He not only outpointed Prograis but outclassed him in every way possible. He was already one of the most accurate boxers in the sport; against Prograis he showed his superior speed, power, and ring generalship. This display sent a message to the Super Lightweight division that he’s looking to rule this division as he did the 135 division, as this was the best version most of us have ever seen of Haney.
“It was a blessing and a dream come true. I’ve always dreamed of these moments,” Haney said about fighting in front of the 16,000 plus Northern Californians that filled the Chase Center. “The Bay Area came out and supported me. So, thank you to everyone that came out.”
“I want to do a fight at 147. But there’s a lot of good fights at 140,” said Haney. “But I’m into making the biggest and best fight happen in boxing. I became undisputed at 135; I made history, and now I want to make the biggest fights happen for the most money, to be honest.”
It’s undetermined what is next for Devin Haney. Most boxing fans would like to see him lock horns with Gervonta “Tank” Davis, yet Davis is at 135 lbs. and has his unresolved issues. Teofimo Lopez and Ryan Garcia are potential options at 140 lbs., but are they big enough names to lure Haney into a fight? We’ll have to wait and see what 2024 brings for the new WBC World Super Lightweight Champion.
