By Jake Tiernan: Eddie Hearn says he’s made an offer to Devin Haney for a fight against WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis and talks are ongoing.
Devin will likely want many millions to fight Prograis, and he could be well beyond Hearn’s price point. Haney’s paydays against Vasily Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr have arguably spoiled him, making him believe he can receive similar money every time out.
Hearn needs to get the best fight possible for Prograis because he’s getting old, and he might not make it through his next fight if he’s matched against #1 WBC Sandor Martin, #2 Josh Taylor, #3 Gary Antuanne Russell or #4 Jose Ramirez.
Given his price tag, it’s questionable whether Hearn will be able to deliver the Haney fight for Prograis. Haney will want big money for any fight, particularly one where there’s a good chance of him losing, like against Prograis.
The 34-year-old Prograis looked awful in his maiden fight under Hearn’s Matchroom banner last month, squeaking by with a twelve round split decision win over Danielito Zorrilla on June 17th in New Orleans.
Prograis looked gunshy, afraid of letting his hands go after being dropped from a straight right from Zorrilla in the first round. Although Prograis won the fight due to Zorrilla moving too much, he wasn’t good and was made to look old by his younger opponent.
Prograis’ age is starting to show, and he’s not the same fearless guy he once was before his war with Josh Taylor in 2019. That fight took a lot out of Prograis in the bravery department, and he’s been tentative ever since.
“I’ve made an offer to Devin Haley to fight Regis Prograis, and talks are ongoing with Bill Haney and Devin. It’s not been non-stop meetings with them, but they’ve had an offer,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about his hopes of putting together a fight between WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis and Devin Haney next.
“We would like to make the Regis Prograis fight. They’ve made it clear to us that’s a fight they would like, so we’ll have to see. It’s definitely not done, but Regis is happy to fight Jack [Catterall.
“We’ve also got a mandatory situation with the WBC, which we have to deal with as well, but Sam Jones does message me 46 times a day about that fight [Prograis vs. Catterall]. He wants the fight. There’s a very good chance that could happen.
“Obviously, from a DAZN perspective, they do like the Devin Haney fight [against Prograis], but Jack is looking to get out probably in October time,” said Hearn.
Haney is an excellent fighter, but he’s clearly not close to being the best at 135 and obviously not at 140, as he’s not competed in that weight class.
Devin is a fighter that talks himself up but has only fought beatable opposition in a much smaller Vasily Lomachenchenko, who beat by a controversial decision last May; Jorge Linares, Joseph Diaz, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and George Kambosos Jr. Haney has not fought the killers at 135, Shakur Stevenson, Gervonta Davis, Frank Martin, and Keyshawn Davis.
Hearn states the Prograis vs. Haney fight is the one DAZN would prefer, but there’s a possibility that Regis (29-1, 24 KOs) will defend against #6 WBC Jack Catterall (27-1, 13 KOs) next.
Prograis-Catterall would play well to the UK audiences while boring American boxing fans, who have no idea who Catterall is, and the ones that do know of him remember his coming up short against an over-the-hill Josh Taylor in 2022.
If your DAZN, you won’t be pleased if Hearn matches Prograis against Catterall because that fight won’t appeal to American audiences and won’t bring in new subscribers in the U.S. or Canada.
Catterall recently beat domestic level fighter Darragh Foley by a 10 round unanimous decision last May in his first fight in 15 months. He’d been out of the ring since his loss to Josh Taylor in February 2022.