Haney dominates Prograis, captures junior welterweight title
Former undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney was brilliant in his first fight at 140 pounds.
Haney defeated Regis Prograis via unanimous decision (120-107, 120-107, 120-107) to claim the WBC junior welterweight title Saturday night in Haney's hometown of San Francisco.
It was a dominant performance from start to finish for Haney, who competed at junior welterweight for the first time after relinquishing his lightweight belts in November. Haney was already one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world and is now a two-division champion at just 25 years old.
"I did everything that I said I was gonna do," Haney said in his postfight interview. "I went in there, and I handicapped him."
Haney scored one knockdown in the bout, briefly flooring Prograis with a right hand during the third round. The new champion rocked his opponent multiple times later on.
Haney, undefeated as a pro at 31-0, has gone the distance in eight consecutive fights.
"I knew I was getting him hurt multiple times," Haney said. "I wanted to go in there and hit him with big shots. My dad kept saying, 'Stay focused. Stick to the game plan. It'll come.'"
Haney established his range at the beginning and controlled the pace until the end of the fight, not allowing Prograis to dish out meaningful offense. Haney was much quicker and sharper on the feet, blowing Prograis out of the water in total punches landed 129-36.
That's the fewest punches landed in a 12-round championship bout in CompuBox's 38-year history, according to ESPN's Mike Coppinger. Prograis broke the record set in November by Edwin De Los Santos in a loss to Shakur Stevenson.
"That motherf----r is good," Prograis said in his postfight interview, praising Haney after a heated buildup to the fight. "He's better than what I thought, not gonna lie. I'm gonna give him credit."
Haney said he felt "a tremendous difference" fighting at 140 pounds instead of 135.
"You see it in my performance, from the (Vasiliy) Lomachenko fight and the past fights going into this fight. ... I felt so much stronger," Haney said. "In this camp, I was able to recover and relax more. ... I felt great. One hundred and forty, you got a new king."
Haney said he wasn't sure what would come next for him. He added that he's discussed moving to 147 pounds, where Terence Crawford reigns supreme, but he also seemed open to defending his belt at 140 pounds.
Haney captured his first world championship - the WBC lightweight title - in 2019, and he eventually became the undisputed champion at that weight with a unanimous decision win over George Kambosos Jr. in 2022. Haney defended the undisputed lightweight title twice, beating Kambosos in a rematch later that year and then controversially edging former champion Lomachenko in May.
Haney has 15 knockouts and 16 decisions in his 31 career victories.
Prograis captured the WBC junior welterweight belt in 2022 and defended it once with a lackluster split-decision victory over Danielito Zorrilla in June. The 34-year-old New Orleans native is now 29-2 as a pro.