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SAN FRANCISCO — Devin Haney put on a great performance to become a two-division champion in his first fight at 140 pounds, scoring a close decision over Regis Prograis Saturday evening at the Chase Center.
All three judges scored the fight 120-107 for Haney, who was awarded the Prograis WBC junior welterweight title. Haney was also the lightweight champion before relinquishing all four of his belts in late November.
Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) won both rounds Saturday night on the strength of a straight punch, a good punch and a clean punch to beyond the age of 25. He dropped him in round 3 with a sharp right hand and hit Prograis in the face with a 12 count.
Prograis’ right eye began to swell before the end of round 3, and he was hit in the bridge of his nose afterward and it was bleeding. Simply put, Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs) has no answer for Haney, a star ranked No. 7 by ESPN pound-for-pound.
“I did everything I said I was going to do,” said Haney, who fights out of Las Vegas. “He went in and I disabled him. We knew he was going to come in with a big left hand… We used his habit of leaning in. … I hit him with big shots … I knew. I hurt him.”
Haney entered the ring on the heels of an impressive, narrow decision victory over future Hall of Famer Vasiliy Lomachenko in May to retain his undisputed title at 135 pounds. For his award Saturday night, Haney chose a top fighter, one who chastised him throughout the process.
Prograis, who fights out of Houston, taunted Haney with his comments that he had “no power” and that he had little to fight back. But Prograis, 34, who was put on the canvas and landed just 38 punches, broke the CompuBox for fewest punches landed in 12 rounds of the championship.
The previous record holder was Edwin De Los Santos, who landed 40 punches against Shakur Stevenson last month.
Haney has long been respected for his world-class defense, but he upped the ante Saturday night in the city where he was born and lived until the 7 years. And unlike Stevenson, Haney took a lot of punishment.
He dragged Prograis’ legs several times throughout the fight and dominated from bell to bell. Not only did Haney cement his status as a professional fighter, but he also made sure he was fighting for the highest level of boxing.
“I feel like right now I should be the fighter of the year,” Haney said at the press conference.
Naoya Inoue, another fighter vying for the title, will have the chance to make his mark on December 26 in Tokyo when he meets Marlon Tapales for the undisputed 122-pound champion.
But tonight, Haney was barely touched.
“It was very difficult to get to him,” said Prograis, who entered ESPN’s No. 3 ranking at junior welterweight. His first loss came to Josh Taylor via majority decision in October 2019. “His jab was good and quick. … His footwork was better.”
Haney, who is 5-foot-8, looked like the bigger guy even though he was a weightlifter.
“I knew I was taller than him,” Haney said. “I was killing myself to get to 135, I’m going to go into a fight and lose it, I’m not going to be my best. Now I can go in and be and the real Devin Haney.”
It doesn’t even stand at 140 pounds. Haney has plans to compete at welterweight in the near future. He stayed at just 135 pounds to pursue his goal of collecting all four belts. Haney accomplished that by traveling to Australia for a pair of fights with George Kambosos last year in Australia, winning both fights in dominant fashion.
And he was even more impressive on Saturday with a better fight in Prograis.
“Devin is amazing,” said his father, coach and manager, Bill Haney. “He’s very special … I think he showed that tonight (with) his ability to put a fighter down.”