This Saturday, December 9th, at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Devin Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) will make his debut at 140 pounds by attempting to become a two-division champion against WBC super lightweight champion Regis Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs).
Haney is facing a dangerous power puncher with an 82.7 percent knockout rate; can he outpoint him and survive the 36-minute match?
Regis Prograis, a southpaw, has a deceptive boxing style, giving the appearance that he is hittable, but his elusive head movement makes him a difficult target. He has one of the best opponent-total-connect percentages in boxing at 19.2 percent, which is better than Haney’s 19.9.
He’ll pose a difficult target to hit, aiming to make Haney miss and then countering him effectively with his overhand left. In his fight against Joseph Diaz (33-4, 15 KOs), Haney was countered numerous times by Diaz’s overhand left.
Jorge Linares (47-9, 29 KOs) also had limited success using the left hand against Haney, landing repeatedly with his left hook and wobbling him in the 9th round with a left uppercut. It was the short right by Linares that most remember in the 10th that stunned Haney and nearly dropped him.
Devin Haney’s strategy will be to box Prograis on the outside, utilizing lateral movement, keeping him at a distance and out of range. In his last fight against Danielito Zorrilla (17-2, 13 KOs), Prograis appeared to struggle against his movement, having difficulties closing the distance.
Both fighters had marginal output, landing only 42 punches a piece, but Prograis was still able to score a knockdown in the 3rd round. His poor performance could be the reason Haney took this match.
Thinking that at 34 years of age, Prograis is declining and beatable. For as skillful as a boxer Haney is, his last four opponents (Linaeres, Diaz, Kambosos, Lomachenko) were all able to land at least 100 punches or more against him.
In the rematch against George Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs), Haney was able to hold him under 100 punches. Will Haney be able to sustain 100 punches at the heavier weight against a power puncher? He must be much more defensively sound against Prograis and stay away from his overhand left if he is to survive the entire match.
The question for Regis is if he’ll be able to cut the ring effectively and land his power punches. He must be able to time Devin’s jab and counter with the left the way Diaz and Linares did.
Regis must also capitalize on the limited exchanges Haney will allow him and if he stays in the pocket for too long, he sometimes does make him pay.
For Haney, he must be tactical, controlling the range and utilizing his 4-inch reach advantage. Using the entire ring to frustrate Prograis with lateral movement, feinting, going in and out, and using the jab strategically at a distance.
For the 25-year-old Haney, the question will be, how will he acclimate to this new weight? Will he be bothered by punches at 140 pounds and much more so from a power puncher like Prograis? Haney had questionable power at 135 pounds. Will he develop and grow stronger at 140?
Source: Statistical Information Obtained from Compubox
