By: Sean Crose
After earning the undisputed lightweight championship of the world, the 30-0 Devin Haney moved up in weight to battle the 29-1 Regis Prograis for Prograis’ WBC junior welterweight title Saturday night in Haney’s hometown of San Francisco. A pay per view main event, the scheduled 12 round affair was one of the more anticipated matchups of the year – and for good reason. The winner would likely become a legitimate star in the sport of boxing.
The first was a close affair, but Prograis may have edged it. Both fighters looked sharp. Each man zipped sharp shots at the other in the second. Haney pushed Prograis down in the final moment of the round, though it proved to be of little consequence. Haney abruptly put Prograis to the mat in the third. Prograis beat the count, but Haney continued to impress throughout the round. Haney was able to maintain range and land well in the fourth. He was now beginning to pull away with the fight.
By the fifth it was clear that Prograis simply could not land effectively on the masterful challenger. Haney fought beautifully in the sixth, sticking, moving, and landing effectively. In the final moments of the round, Haney rocked his man again. Bottom line – Prograis was getting beat up. Sure enough, Prograis looked hesitant to try to move in on Haney in the seventh. It was looking like the fight might not go the distance.
Haney’s world class performance continued in the eighth, as he kept hitting without getting hit himself. Prograis looked like a beaten man, mentally, and – increasingly – physically. Haney rocked Prograis yet again in the ninth. He didn’t go for the kill, however, likely because he knew Prograis still possessed fight ending power. “We’re not going to sit there and let you take punishment,” Prograis’ corner told him in between rounds. Prograis went on to barely throw punches in the tenth.
The penultimate round essentially offered more of the same, Haney – viscous but not reckless – was simply too good a boxer for Prograis. It wasn’t Prograis’ fault. He simply wasn’t the fighter Haney was. The final round saw Prograis, to his credit, try to make something happen. Boxing had seen plenty of eleventh hour knockouts down through the decades, but it wasn’t seeing one this night. The fight belonged to Haney, who, after the final bell had rung, was awarded a wide unanimous decision win, courtesy of the judges. “I did everything I said I was going to do,” the new champion said afterward.
Without doubt, Haney is now absolutely a legitimate star.
