Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) totally dominated a very, very old-looking WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs), dropping him once and winning a one-sided twelve round unanimous decision in a click at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
The scores were:
– 120-107
– 120-107
– 120-107
Haney used his tremendous size & speed advantage to defeat the 34-year-old Prograis, who was dropped in the third round and hurt in the ninth.
The live boxing results for tonight’s card on DAZN will be shown below.
In the chief support bout, light welterweight contender Liam Paro (24-0, 15 KOs) destroyed the hapless Montana Love (18-2-1, 9 KOs) by a sixth round knockout. The time of the stoppage was at 1:49 of the sixth. Paro dropped the Eddie Hearn promoted Love twice in the sixth round with lefts. After Love got back up from the second knockdown, Paro landed a series of heavy shots to the head, resulting in the referee stepping in to halt the mismatch. The loss for Montana was his second consecutive, and it could be it for him. It’ll be interesting to see if Hearn cuts Love loose from his Matchroom stable after this latest defeat. The southpaw Paro dominated the fight, hitting Love with jabs and hard left hands in rounds one through five.
2020 Olympic gold medalist lightweight Andy Cruz (2-0, 1 KO) defeated Jovanni Straffon (26-6-1, 19 KOs) by a third round knockout. The 28-year-old Cuban Andy Cruz landed a lot of shots but didn’t show much power in comparison to many of the 135-pounders in the division. Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn will need to maneuver Cruz well to avoid him getting beaten. Also, Cruz’s age means he’ll need to step up soon because he can’t afford to be brought up slowly like most fighters who turn pro. If he takes his time, Cruz would be in his mid-30s before he gets a world title shot, and that won’t work well. He already looks close to that age now, and one can only imagine what he’ll look like in five years.
Surprisingly, Myo Yoshida (17-4) beat IBF female bantamweight champion Ebanie Bridges (9-2, 3 KOs). The scores were 99-91, 99-91, and 97-93. Yoshida wore down Bridges, using nonstop pressure to exhaust her. By the seventh round, Bridges was fighting on fumes and had nothing left. Yoshida continued to unload on the 37-year-old Bridges to continue to victory.
Middleweight prospect Amari Jones (10-0, 9 KOs) defeated Quilisto Madera (14-5, 9 KOs) by a fifth round stoppage. Jones unloaded with a series of hard shots in round five, resulting in referee Thomas Taylor halting the contest. The time of the stoppage was at 1:44 on the fifth.
Unbeaten super featherweight Beatriz Ferreira (4-0, 2 KOs) stopped Destiny Jones (5-2, 2 KOs) in the eighth round. The time was at 0:05. Jones was down in the fifth. The Brazilian Ferreira suffered a cut over her left eye from a clash of heads in round seven.
Regis Prograis will have his WBC light welterweight title on the line against the favored, heavily-backed Devin Haney in their bout. Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) hits hard and wants to knock Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) off his high horse, dropping him down a peg. The start time is at 8:00 p.m. ET on DAZN.
The challenger Haney will likely box, move, use his jab, and tie up the hard-hitting Prograis whenever he gets near enough to land his shots.
For Regis to win, he must cover ground quickly, tread through no man’s land, and rush through Haney’s machine gun-like fire to get close enough to unload his heavy artillery to take him out.
Haney vs. Prograis prediction
Devin will avoid getting caught in a slugfest tonight and will box smartly from the outside to win a twelve round unanimous decision against the 34-year-old Prograis.
It won’t be the most entertaining fight to watch due to Haney’s focus on boxing from a distance, but we’ll see a new, more popular fighter that is crowned tonight.
Calculated Iceman: Haney
“[Haney is like], ‘I’m going to stick behind my jab, and I’m going to win the fight.’ It’s a projection of his style and what he’s going to bring,” said Chris Algieri to ProBox TV about Devin Haney.
“If you look at Prograis, it’s the same thing. He’s going to bring fire; he’s going to bring animosity and fury. That’s why this fight is going to be so fun to watch. These guys are diametrically opposed to their personalities and styles. We’re going to see who is going to be able to impose that psychological will, and that’s why we tune in.”
We don’t know what approach Haney will take for tonight’s fight, as he might adopt the same puncher’s style that he used in his last contest against Vasily Lomachenko by taking it to Prograis, wanting to show fans that he’s not afraid of mixing it up.
Tonight, we will likely see the same thing that we witnessed Haney do in his two fights with former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. in 2022.
It’s tedious but effective. Despite his popularity, Haney’s style is dull to watch and a throwback to Floyd Mayweather Jr’s approach to fighting. He rarely entertained inside the ring, yet fans still wanted to see him fight.
“Rougarou gets himself at his best when he’s a little bit angry when he feels like he’s being doubted when you get that chip on your shoulder and all these things leading into this fight,” said Paulie Malignaggi about Prograis, who the fans, media, and oddsmakers are predicting will lose to Haney.
Psychological Warfare
“I also think that Haney and his boxing style are best when he’s emotionless, when he has ice in his veins, and he doesn’t really get suckered into any of this other stuff,” said Malignaggi about Haney. “His best boxing skills are displayed when he’s just cold & calculated when he isn’t overtrying in one direction or the other.”
It’s questionable whether Haney can win if he chooses to just box & hold all night, considering that would give Prograis the advantage of landing the best shots in every round.
It’s unclear if Haney can withstand the power of Prograis if he’s able to get to him on a consistent basis with his big punches. Devin can’t punch, and that’s going to remain a constant despite him moving up five pounds from 135 to 140.
“So, you can see what makes these guys tick with what’s seething out of their pores in the press conference. So, it’s coming to a collision course on Saturday night,” said Malignaggi.
“When you have the best jab in the business, you start with the jab, and you end with the jab. Listen, this is classic boxing. Right now, this is the Devin Haney era, and he’s the classic boxer,” said Bill Haney to Secondsout on tonight’s fight with Regis Prograis, the WBC 140-lb champion on DAZN PPV.
So there it is. Bill Haney letting the cat out of the bag, giving away the game plan for tonight’s fight, and bragging about Devin’s great jab. If that’s not a dead giveaway about what Haney will be doing tonight, I don’t know what is. Bill just couldn’t keep quiet and just had to let it slip about what Haney would be doing tonight.
It’s pretty obvious why Bill revealed the game plan. He can do the old, ‘I told you so’ bit afterward to get a little extra credit.
“Can Regis Prograis punch? Is he a puncher? Well, let’s see. Devin is not a novice fighter. He’s a seasoned fighter. I expect him to show his experience and his intelligence,’ said Bill.
“When you have the array of tools that he has, starting with the best jab in the business, I’m comfortable telling you, we’re going to start with that, and let’s see what you do from there,” said Bill about his son, Devin.