Devin Haney outclasses Regis Prograis, wins WBC 140-pound title with shutout decision

Devin Haney came of age as an elite fighter when he eased to victory over Regis Prograis to win the WBC 140-pound title on Saturday.

After 12 one-sided rounds at the Chase Center in San Francisco he was awarded – inevitably – three scores of 120-107 and crowned world champion at a second weight.

He was rightly regarded as the favorite against the 34-year-old Prograis, the defending beltholder, but outboxed him so convincingly he immediately threatened Ring/WBO champion Teofimo Lopez’s status as the division’s number one.

On the occasion of his first fight at 140 pounds he consistently made a proven opponent look one-dimensional, and to the extent he also showed how much making the lightweight limit had perhaps held him back.

With the additional five pounds in weight Haney produced his most destructive performance. In May he excelled in outpointing – not without controversy – Vasiliy Lomachenko; as again the naturally bigger fighter he this time regularly hurt Prograis, dropping him in the third and ultimately winning every round.

Prograis more convincingly cut down the ring than he did in June against Danielito Zorrilla, but Haney, 25, repeatedly punished him as a consequence. Haney consistently controlled the range and pace at which they fought and, with his timing and accuracy, hurt him with counters and the jab.

Swelling appeared by Prograis’ right eye as early as the conclusion of the first round, and as early as the second he was starting to look beaten up. After long being accused of lacking power, in the third Haney then dropped the defending champion with a straight right hand. Prograis quickly returned to his feet and nodded in acknowledgement of his opponent’s success, but when he then again fell short with a punch and Haney smiled it was tempting to conclude that they were both realizing he was out of his depth.

Prograis, The Ring’s No. 2-rated junior welterweight, had become predictable and was almost knocked down in the sixth by a left-right combination that buckled his knees and forced him to retreat. Haney stayed patient instead of attempting to force the knockdown and will also have noticed Prograis bleeding from the bridge of his nose.

From the conclusion of the eighth Prograis’ respected trainer Bobby Benton perhaps should have considered rescuing him from further punishment, but Prograis instead bravely – as has come to be expected of him – chose to fight on.

Haney, aware he was on course for so one-sided a victory, eased off from the 10th and maintained his discipline in front of a 17,000-strong crowd vocal in their support of him. By the final bell the scorecards that followed seemed, even by boxing’s standards, a formality; confirmation swiftly followed that the mature, patient and improving new champion had been awarded every round.

It was perhaps telling, post-fight, that he and his father, trainer and manager Bill again spoke of fighting at welterweight. They also spoke of pursuing the money potentially on offer in Saudi Arabia, where a fight with his divisional rival Ryan Garcia – also aligned with DAZN – would generate his biggest ever purse.

“Now I am able to go in there and be the real Devin Haney,” the former undisputed lightweight champion said of the benefits of his increased weight.

“I was leaving it all in the gym [making the 135-pound weight limit]. I just showed that I got it all. Power, speed, and I want to do a fight at 147, but there a lot of big fights at 140.

“Part of the game plan [was] to handicap [Prograis]. His left hand was his bread and butter and we took it away from him.

“[Post-fight] he said I was super sharp and fast. I told him ‘Thank you for the opportunity and the shot’.”

Any public occasion involving the Haneys would not be complete without cheerleading orchestrated by Bill, who suggested that the extent to which Errol Spence was struggling to make 147 pounds meant that his son’s performance against Prograis surpassed that of Terence Crawford in the year’s biggest fight.

Insignificant references to Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Shakur Stevenson are similarly inevitable, and while Bill Haney hinted at moving to 147 pounds when he said, “We are looking at legacy, so many people are tarnishing the sport saying ‘Belts don’t matter,’” Haney Jr. provided a reminder of the value they place in reputation by saying: “I should be fighter of the year”.

“The two places I want to fight is Saudi Arabia and here [the Bay Area],” he also said, aware that his fight in Las Vegas with Lomachenko had unfolded with him being booed throughout.

Prograis, admirably defying the modern-era’s culture of convincingly beaten fighters choosing not to attend a post-fight press conference, similarly admirably insisted he wants to remain at 140lbs and to win a world title for a third time.

“I am definitely not giving up,” he said, before insisting Haney is superior to Josh Taylor, the fighter responsible for his other defeat. “Three-time [world champion] – that is my goal.

“[Haney] was better and quicker than I thought for sure.

“I trained for four months and it just wasn’t good enough. I am going to go back to the drawing board [to] get better and better.

“It was a different style. Just basically work on my footwork. I couldn’t get to him. Go back to the gym and work on my footwork.

“[But] nothing in the fight never hurt me. I never felt in trouble.”

Prograis might yet next fight Liam Paro, who stopped Montana Love 109 seconds into the sixth round of their fight. Paro had been scheduled to challenge Prograis until an Achilles injury forced his withdrawal and he was replaced by Zorrilla. He was starting to outwork Love when a left uppercut to the chin sent Love to the canvas, before another left hand knocked him down again. When Love was on his feet again and struggling to defend himself, the referee Thomas Taylor then stepped in.

Andy Cruz earlier excelled when he stopped the little-known Jovanni Straffon, 30, inside three rounds. After a convincing opening round the finish should have followed in the second. A succession of right uppercuts and straight rights repeatedly hurt his Mexican opponent, who though admirably determined to remain on his feet, should have been rescued by the referee Edward Collantes or his corner. They both instead recklessly allowed him to fight on into the third, in which the inevitable further punishment forced Collantes’ intervention after 53 seconds.

Ebanie Bridges lost her IBF bantamweight title fight with Miyo Yoshida of Japan. The Australian ultimately deserved little more than the 91-99, 97-93, 99-91 scores awarded in favor of her classy opponent.