Devin Haney was on another level, dominating WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis, limiting him to fewer than 40 punch connects in winning a one-sided twelve round unanimous decision last Saturday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
The 120-107, 120-107, and 120-107 elected how much of a total mismatch the Haney-Prograis fight turned out to be.
If this a battle in wartime, you could call it a rout, as Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs) was no match for Haney (31-0, 15 KOs), and he easily could have been knocked out if Devin had chosen to go for it.
He had the 34-year-old Regis hurt several times in the fight but opted not to go for the finish by choosing to focus on his safety-first style.
Haney’s defensive focus = a mistake
Haney used his Shakur Stevenson lite pull-back style to neutralize Prograis’s offense, and the fight turned into a dull match-up. That’s not what Devin needed for him to A. increase his popularity. B. lure the big names to fight him. C. create excitement for the fans.
While it was great that Haney took away the aging Prograis’ offense, it came at a cost, making the fight boring and likely hurting Devin’s chances of getting the lucrative clash that he & his dad Bill badly want against Gervonta Davis.
When you’re trying to get a fight against a big star like Tank, it’s a bad idea to fight in a defensive Shakur-esque style because they’re not going to want to face you and have you do the same thing to them.
Haney probably thought he was being clever by fighting in a hit-and-run style, but it was self-defeating, as he’s likely ruined his chances of getting a fight with Tank Davis and Ryan Garcia.
Most would agree that Prograis needed to go for broke and take chances by going after Haney in a way that would have put his chin on the line.
When you’re an older fighter as slow as Prograis but with more power, you got to go old school on the fleet-of-foot younger guy and didn’t want to do that.
Prograis couldn’t cut off the ring
“I could see him defending against Liam Paro next. Liam Paro kind of makes sense as far as fighting another Australian,” said Paulie Malignaggi to ProBox TV about the next fight for Devin Haney in a title defense of his WBC light welterweight belt, provided the sanctioning body allows him to maneuver around his mandatory Sandor Martin.
The unbeaten light welterweight contender Liam Paro (24-0, 15 KO) would be a good option for Haney to defend his WBC 140-lb title against next. Paro stopped Montana Love (18-2-1, 9 KOs) in the sixth round last Saturday on the undercard of Haney vs. Prograis.
Bill Haney might not like the idea of Devin facing the southpaw Paro next because he wants Tank Davis next, and was sounding obsessed with the Baltimore native after the fight. That’s all Bill wanted to talk about.
Paro isn’t well known, so there won’t be the massive money that Bill wants from a fight involving him and Devin.
“I don’t think he’ll wind up against [champions] Rolly or Teo right now. I think Rolly vs. Ryan Garcia is the fight that’s going to get made. I would be shocked if that fight doesn’t get made,” aid Malignaggi.
“As far as Teo is concerned, I don’t think anyone is going to be in a rush to fight Teo. That’s the toughest one for me. I think people would love to see it,” said Malignaggi about boxing fans wanting to see Haney fight WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez next.
“I think Haney’s next defense will be against Liam Paro. It makes sense. They were on the card together,” said Chris Algieri. “Liam Paro had a fantastic showing against a guy that didn’t show up and doesn’t show up [Montana Love last Saturday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco].
Bill will probably nix the idea of Paro being Haney’s next opponent for 2024. If they can’t get Tank Davis, Bill will go down the list until he gets someone to give Haney his best payday. That would be one of these guys:
- Keith Thurman
- Mario Barrios
- Arnold Barboza Jr
Ryan Garcia isn’t an option for Haney because he’s not going to want to deal with his defensive style, and he’s also interested in fighting Rolly Romero next. It’s in Ryan’s best interest to keep winning long enough to get the Tank Davis rematch, so that’s another reason why he won’t face Haney.
The money won’t be the same fighting Haney, and he’s not going to be able to chase him around the ring to win.
“It doesn’t matter. He’s [Paro] undefeated. So, matching those two guys up, Devin Haney and Liam Paro, another southpaw. It makes every sense in the world,” said Algieri.
“You got to be able to cut off the ring, but you still couldn’t,” said Algieri about Prograis failing to cut off the ring against Haney like we saw in Regis’ previous fight against Danielito Zorrilla last June.
Haney could have stopped Regis
“I’m going to give it to Haney because what else are we going to do? He did a good job of using his jab,” said Algieri. “Listen, the way he used that left-arm block, it was beautiful. He would jab and then left-arm block, then step out, boom-boom. He could have stopped Regis tonight; he really could have.”
Haney could have stopped Prograis, but that would have required him to step out of his safety-first style and put his chin on the line. Devin wasn’t willing to take that risk to score a knockout and entertain the fans.
Moreover, Haney lacked the foresight to visualize what a knockout would have done for his career. He was too dense to grasp what it would have done for his earning potential.
Again, his father, Bill, should have impressed upon him the need to put some drama into the fight of playing it safe, which is what he ultimately did—an opportunity missed by Haney.
“He had him hurt upstairs with a right hand that he was super clean with, but then he started breaking him down with body shots,” said Algieri. “It was funny. I was watching the fight, thinking, ‘He could stop this guy. He’s not going to,’ because he’s not going to take this extra step.
“I always say about knockout punchers. Being a boxer is one thing, but having the mentality to stop somebody is another. If you have that one-hitter quitter, that’s one thing. Haney will never have that.”
Haney just wanted to preserve his hide by not taking the risks that he needed to get a knockout, and that was dumb on his part. If he had tried, it would have been worth it.
Haney seems just like he was too flat-out scared to fight heroically the way he needed. “A coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero dies but once” – William Shakespeare. What he’s talking about here is regret is a killer, mental torture for a person as it doesn’t go away, not ever. Haney missed his chance, and it was too late. All he can do is learn from this, and that’s if he’s self-aware enough to realize his mistake.
“I never had that, but to have that mentality to step in and make that happen, I didn’t see him taking that chance tonight. That’s why it went twelve. He had the opportunity to stop Regis tonight, which is crazy to say, but he did,” Algieri said.
Who can give Devin problems at 140?
“I disagree wholeheartedly,” said Algieri when asked if IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias would give Haney problems. “The only guy that would give Haney problems [at 140] is Teofimo because Teo knows how to change distances, change levels, box, jab, move, everything.”
Subriel Matias has the power, aggressiveness, and courage to chase Haney around the ring, walk through his shots, and trap him to make it interesting.
It could be bad for Haney’s career, even if he beats Matias, considering he would have used his Shakur-esque pull-back style even more against him than he did last Saturday, and he could get booed out of the venue, especially if the fight takes place in Las Vegas.
Fans in Nevada don’t like watching runners, and they will be less tolerant of it than the Bay Arena folks. Eddie Hearn would be wise to bring Haney’s next fight back to San Francisco if he takes a risky opponent like Matias.
“He has the potential to jab with Haney, who is a phenomenal jabber. Matias doesn’t,” said Algieri.”The guy gets hit too much. He comes forward and is a front-foot fighter. A guy like Haney, who fought the way he did tonight with incredible discipline all night long, Matias’ nightmare is that guy.
“If you can’t hit a guy, what are you going to do with all that power? Prograis had power. He couldn’t deliver it. So, is that fight good with Matias? Absolutely. Would I want to see it? Absolutely. I want to see Matias with everybody.”
Haney would look brave if he were to fight Matias next, as no one thinks he’ll take a risky fight other than Gervonta Davis, but that obviously won’t happen. Boxing fans don’t think Haney will fight Matias because he’s not old, and he could ruin Devin & Bill’s pipe dream of a match against Tank.
Getting wiped out by Matias or made to run from him for twelve rounds, would destroy any chances of Haney ever getting a fight with Tank.
“But is he the only guy that could beat Devin Haney? No, I don’t think that’s true, but I think Teofimo is a guy because of his boxing IQ, his ability to box and move, and he also has power,” said Algieri.
“He’s such a multi-faced fighter. That’s the kind of guy that it’s going to take to beat Devin Haney,” said Algieri about Teofimo having the best shot at beating Haney at 140.