Former WBC light welterweight title-holder Regis Prograis feels Devin Haney shouldn’t complain about Ryan Garcia’s weight after he rehydrated 25 lbs to 165 lbs to dethrone him last December.
Prograis says he suspects Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) had assistance to blow up 25 lbs for their fight, but he didn’t say anything about it at the time. But he feels it’s weak on Haney’s part now to cry about Ryan Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) missed weight by 3.2 lbs last Friday for their fight last Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Prograis on Haney’s Rehydration
“They did it to me, and now it’s been done to them. I saw how big he was in the ring,” Regis Prograis said on the Fight Hub TV YouTube channel, talking about how Devin Haney rehydrated up to 165 pounds for their fight last December in San Francisco.
“When you fight at 140 lbs and you blow up 25 lbs overnight. Every doctor says you cannot do that naturally. You have to have IVs to do that,” Prograis continued about Haney rehydrating up to 165 lbs for their fight on December 9th.
The WBC needs to address the practice of fighters ballooning up after making weight for their fights. The WBC needs to come down hard on this practice. I think a 10-lb rehydration limit on fight dates keeps fighters from putting on massive amounts of weight overnight and coming in 20+ lbs over their weigh-in weight on the previous day.
If a fighter is seriously injured or killed because of fighting an opponent that has rehydrated massive amounts of weight, it’s going to reflect badly on the WBC or whichever sanctioning body is involved.
“You’re not supposed to do IVs. It was illegal. In my contract, you weren’t supposed to be that big. It was illegal, but I let it go. Since now, he’s crying about the weight issue [for Ryan Garcia], but you did it to me. I didn’t say nothing. If that’s the case, don’t fight,” said Prograis.
Weight Manipulation: A Growing Problem
Prograis’ comments about Haney’s rehydration aren’t just a problem for him. There are many other instances of boxers putting on absurd amounts of weight after rehydrating.
If the sport is going to be fair, the commissions and sanctioning bodies need to focus more on the safety of the fighters to stop this practice.
Haney rehydrating to 165 lbs is incredible for his fight with Prograis, and you can argue that there should be an asterisk next to his win in the record books to reflect how big he was.
