By Adam Baskin: The highly popular Devin Haney will battle Regis Prograis for his WBC light welterweight belt on December 9th on DAZN pay-per-view at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
ESPN reports that Prograis-Haney is a done deal, allowing the 24-year-old San Francisco-born native Devin to fight in front of his hometown boxing fans in the Bay Area for the first time in his eight-year professional career.
Will Fans be willing to pay?
There’s no word yet about the PPV asking price for fans to watch the Prograis vs. Haney event, but it could be a mistake for DAZN to make it too expensive. Pricing it in the $20 range wouldn’t upset fans too much, but it’s likely to be higher than that.
Fans already pay for the subscription rate for DAZN, and many will balk if they’re asking to pay in the $70 range to see Haney the belt-holder Prograis. Teofimo Lopez & Ryan Garcia are guys that fans wouldn’t mind paying to see Haney fight on PPV, but probably not Prograis.
It’s a questionable move for the organizers of the Prograis-Haney event to place it on DAZN PPV rather than regular non-PPV, as the 35-year-old Prograis (29-1, 14 KOs) isn’t a big name in the U.S. due to his lack of marquee names on his resume, coupled with the low visibility of his fights in the last four years.
Prograis looks shot at this career stage, made to order or Haney. It’s just lucky for Haney that Prograis hasn’t been forced to defend his WBC 140-lb title against #2 contender Gary Antuanne Russell (17-0, 17 KOs).
Haney would have all kinds of problems trying to beat Russell for the WBC belt, but he probably wouldn’t mess with him. He’s too dangerous. Devin and his dad, Bill Haney, are very calculated when picking out their opponents.
The success of this event will depend on whether Haney’s fanbase will be willing to pay to see him fight the aging Prograis, who, based on his last performance against Danielito Zorrilla, looks like he’s lost a few steps.
Haney holds the undisputed lightweight championship and is now moving up to 140 to begin the hard work of accomplishing that feat in that weight class, which could prove to be more challenging.
Becoming undisputed at 140 won’t be easy
There isn’t a George Kambosos Jr.-level champion at 140 for Haney to capture three belts at once, and he likely won’t be elevated to championship status outside of the ring like we saw when the WBC made him lightweight champion with their organization in 2021.
Haney is starting off low, choosing what some feel is the weakest link among the champions at 140 in Prograis. It’s believed that if Haney wins this fight to capture the WBC belt, he’ll face WBO champ Teofimo Lopez next.
Haney isn’t expected to face IBF champion Subriel Matias next because it’s too risky, and he could mess up his plans for a big-money bout against Teofimo.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said earlier this week that Haney’s fight with Prograis would be in a location that is unusual, and he was right. There aren’t too many high-level fights that take place in San Francisco, even though isn’t one of the biggest cities in California.
The Regis Prograis-Devin Haney WBC 140-pound title fight – originally planned for Oct. 28 in Las Vegas – is set for Dec. 9 at San Francisco’s Chase Center on DAZN PPV, sources told ESPN. Haney, the undisputed lightweight champion, lands a Bay Area homecoming for his attempt at…
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) September 9, 2023