Devin Haney let WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis know that they’re going to be fighting in October after he asked his promoter Eddie Hearn today if he’ll be fighting ‘The Dream’ in November or not.
Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) would be wise not to take Haney literally because this guy has been all over the place, talking about wanting to fight various guys, and the chances are that he might not be serious.
Haney may disappear and go and fight WBO 140-lb champion Teofimo Lopez because that’s the bigger money opportunity for him.
Teo has already said that he would like to fight Haney next. Of course, we don’t know if Teofimo’s promoters at Top Rank would be on board with that idea.
Regis has his WBC mandatory due against Sandor Martin, and that’s the fight he should b focusing on instead of Haney.
After Prograis’ last fight against Danielito Zorrilla, it’s NOT a good time for him to fight a pure boxer like Devin Haney now because he needs to make huge improvements in his game fighting a guy like this.
Prograis must understand the reason Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) wants to fight him so badly is that he saw how inept & rudimentary his boxing skills were in his last bout against Zorrilla and his loss to Josh Taylor, and he sees him as an easy mark.
Why Prograis shouldn’t fight Haney:
– Bad style matchup
– Too slow on his feet
– Unable to cut off the ring
– Susceptible to Haney’s jabs
– Likelihood of getting beaten
– Too gunshy
– Coming at a wrong time
Promoter Eddie Hearn needs to realize that Prograis is too flawed right now for him to beat Haney, and if he makes that fight, he’ll wish he hadn’t.
The only way match-up makes sense is if Prograis’ contract with Matchroom Boxing is about up, and that’s the only money fight he can take.
If Hearn can get Haney to agree to sign with Matchroom for two or three fights in exchange for him letting him fight the vulnerable Prograis, then it would be okay to make this match-up.
I doubt Haney would agree to that deal, but if he wants a winnable title against Prograis, he’ll do it. Haney’s chances of beating Prograis are arguably a lot higher than if he were to face IBF champion Subriel Matias or WBO champion Teofimo. Haney probably won’t want to fight WBA champion Rolly Romero, so he’s not a possibility.
