By Adam Baskin: Bill Haney is calling Shakur Stevenson, Teofimo Lopez, and Josh Taylor as “tune-ups” for his son Devin, who could be moving up to 140 for his next fight.
Bill will be on a scouting mission tonight at Madison Square Garden in New York for the Taylor vs. Teofimo fight to determine whether the contest winner would be a good option for Haney’s next fight.
WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis is the fighter that Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) has his eyes on, according to Bill, but he views WBO champ Taylor as a “killer as well.”
Bill kind of got shifty-eyed when Shakur Stevenson’s eyes were mentioned as if he was looking to see if the coast was clear for him to talk freely about him. He looked nervous like he was being questioned by ‘The Grand Inquisitor.’
Taylor beat Prograis four years ago in London, but Regis had him figured out in the second half of that fight and narrowly lost. Prograis has gotten a lot better since then, whereas Taylor appears to have lost a few steps and is starting to show signs of decline.
If Haney selects Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) as his next opponent, that would say a lot about his courage and willingness to fight the best. Taylor is perhaps the bigger money fight for Haney, but also a difficult one on paper.
Haney’s best option would be to fight Teofimo next if he comes out victorious tonight, but that’s not likely to happen. Taylor is on another level than Teofimo, and the chances are high that he will win tonight.
Taylor is a better inside fighter than Haney and is far more powerful. If Haney chooses to tie Taylor up frequently, as we saw him do against Vasyl Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr, he could take a lot of punishment.
“The only thing unfortunate about that scenario is that Devin can’t fight them all at the same time,” said Bill Haney to the media when asked about his reaction to Bob Arum saying he has the following three options for Devin’s next fight: 1. Shakur Stevenson 2. Vasyl Lomachenko rematch, and 3. Teofimo Lopez vs. Josh Taylor winner.
“Until I get an offer on paper, we’ll sit down and talk, and I’ll listen and uh and see what’s on the table. Devin beats them all. Devin is the best in the world. They’re all tune-ups.
“He’s got his eyes on Prograis. We’re pretty confident. The killer at 140 will be in this fight tonight in Josh Taylor. I think Regis Prograis is a hell of a fighter. He’s a killer as well. He had a competitive fight with Josh [in 2019].
“They know the same thing will happen. Bob [Arum] is sitting right there,” said Bill when asked if the same thing would happen in a rematch between Haney and Lomachenko, with Devin winning.
“We’re taking a look [at 140]. Devin will have the latest say in it. It’s my job to get out and see what the landscape looks like. He’s been a 135 pounder his whole career. We haven’t spent a whole lot of time looking at 140, but now it’s time to start looking at them.
“I don’t pay a lot of attention to Loma. We beat him. He wasn’t doing a whole lot of talking. At first, he couldn’t speak English, and now you hear everything from him. In four years, we didn’t hear nothing from him. Now, we look to move on.
“I’m saying Devin has the final decision on whatever weight that he’s [fighting at], and I’m not here to announce it. I’m just saying that Devin is the baddest in the world.
“I know he walked Lomachenko down and he changed any narrative that you guys might have said. If he [Haney] had pillow hands, why was he going forward? Why wasn’t Lomachenko backing him up? We stepped to him from one to twelve,” said Bill.
