By Adam Baskin: Regis Prograis will beat Devin Haney, says promoter Eddie Hearn and he intends on offering him a title shot against the WBC light welterweight champion next to allow him to fight for a world title in his first fight at 140.
Hearn admits that he doesn’t think Haney can beat Prograis, who is on another level. It’s one thing for Haney to hold all the belts at 135, but it’s a different story at 140. Haney is now back to being one of the many pretenders to the throne.
Matchroom promoter Hearn says he rates Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) very highly, as he holds four titles at 135 and is the king of that division, but he’s moving up now, or so he says, and the man on the throne at 140 is Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs).
For Haney to knock Prograis out of his golden king chair, it’s going to take all of the following:
A. Courage to take the fight
B. Speed
C. Skills
D. Strong chin
E. Mobility
F. Power
In the end, Haney will be deficient in one too many of these areas, resulting in him going down to defeat Prograis. However, it’s also very likely that Haney will be missing out on the ingredient to take the fight, courage.
If Haney lacks the courage and self-belief to beat Prograis, he won’t take the fight and will choose to go in a different direction. But as Hearn points out, Haney is in a “tough spot” with his popularity tied into being the undisputed lightweight champion at 135.
“I’m interested in him fighting Regis Prograis. We’re going to make him an offer for the Regis.,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV. “I will provide him with that shot against Regis Prograis. Devin’s not going to want to fight Shakur, in my opinion.
“Absolutely, I think Devin’s an outstanding fighter, but Regis is a tremendous fighter,” said Hearn when asked if Prograis could beat Haney. Devin’s in a tough spot in the sense that his value is being Undisputed.”
Hearn added that he doubts Haney will be too excited about the three offers Top Rank promoter Bob Arum will have for him against Shakur Stevenson, Teofimo Lopez, and Vasily Lomachenko.
For one, Haney WON’T fight Shakur, as Hearn points out, and he can forget about facing the now-retired Teofimo.
That leaves Lomachenko, and he’s probably not going to want to take that fight either because it’s a lot of trouble, and the money might not match the numbers he has in his head about what he feels he’s worth now after his win over Loma last May.
Prograis is defending his WBC light welterweight title this Saturday, June 17, on DAZN against Danielito Zorrilla (17-1, 13 KOs) at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. The event kicks off at 8:00 p.m. ET on DAZN.
