Devin Haney vs Regis Prograis was supposed to be at least close to an even fight. Haney was in his hometown, but challenging a champion for his belt in what was, for him, a new weight class. Yes, Haney was still visibly the bigger man, but he’d been rocked on multiple occasions at 135lbs. Including by a past-his-best Jorge Linares and a much smaller Vasyl Lomachenko. Whether he was going to be able to take the shots of a power puncher like Prograis, or use his usual clinch tactics if he got in trouble, was open to question.
As it turned out: not a problem at all. It wasn’t so much that Haney proved he had the chin and strength to deal with it- it’s that he outboxed Prograis so thoroughly that neither question really came up at all. Let’s take a look at how.
The Breakdown: How did Devin Haney beat Regis Prograis
Let’s get one thing out of the way- Devin Haney has often been seen, not unfairly, as a jab-and-grab fighter. Skillful, yes, but often winning fights by poking out his sharp jab to score points, then leaning in and clinching when opponents worked their way past it. Effective, but not always pretty.
None of that here. Yes, the jab was a major feature, but the clinching not at all. He used his footwork, which looked much smoother than it often has in the past- but even there he was simply circling – mostly to his right, to avoid Prograis’ left hand- to hold the center of the ring and keep Prograis at bay, rarely disengaging and stepping back entirely.
Even more importantly, he tamed Prograis’ aggression with his own punches. The former champion, at his best, is a hard-charging, aggressive power puncher – but Haney intercepted him every time he tried anything, and very quickly dissuaded him from any forward moves. That left Prograis having to find alternative ways to get in close- and his lack of a backup plan was sorely exposed.
One of the biggest problems here was the limitations he showed in his head movement. Now, Prograis is twitchy, proactive and busy with his head, and had always fooled his opponents into giving him routes in before. Haney, however, didn’t bite on any of that. That meant Prograis was left relying on the true movements to get him there safely, and for that you need variety.
He showed the opposite. This was an open stance matchup, Haney in orthodox with Prograis the southpaw. The common wisdom is that fighters should be looking to move to the outside, around their opponents lead hand. Prograis typically does the opposite, slipping inside his opponent’s jab to come in down the center line – which isn’t inherently a mistake, and has served him well till now, arriving in angles and with timing that isn’t typical for such a matchup and allowing to deliver his left hand in unsual ways that opponents frequently struggled to deal with.
Here, though, Haney was wise to it, and closed that route with intercepting uppercuts and right hooks whenever he made to move in down it. One would have expected as high a level fighter as Prograis to have an alternative, built around going the other way- but he simply did not. His attempts to slip to his right, or to circle right and charge in from a more advantageous angle, were hesitant when they came at all. It almost seemed like it wasn’t something he’d considered he’d have to do, and when he tried, Haney was far too sharp to let it happen.
Nor did he have a more basic approach to go to. It isn’t ideal for a fighter who likes to use feints and deception to have to just tuck up in a high guard and get in close as fast as possible to let rip, but a lot of them will do when they have to. Prograis, again, didn’t even seem to consider the idea. When he did, in the later rounds, just start crashing forward, it was with punches already swinging and thus no defence, and he was intercepted easily again.
That left him without any answers, and Devin Haney able to do pretty much what he wanted. Some viewers have criticised him for the fact that, in light of this, he didn’t get more aggressive and knock Prograis out. That was wisdom speaking though- and it was hardly a timid performance. Although Prograis was knocked down once and clearly wobbled repeatedly, he was never seriously hurt. Haney getting too greedy would have given needless opportunity to Prograis in his preferred range.
Instead, he kept station in the center of the ring, circling but never retreating, and repeatedly rocking Prograis with newly improved power and deceptions of his own. The knockdown was a great example: he’d frequently been using the jab as bait, tapping Prograis with it before following with the real power shot. That left Prograis conditioned to react to the jab with preparations for what followed.
On the knockdown, though, Haney half-threw the jab and instead stepped fully through immediately with the straight right, and it caught the unprepared Prograis squarely off-balance. It wasn’t a super-damaging shot and he recovered pretty fast, but after that he got into his own head, unable to be comfortable at any range because he was unsure what Haney’s pattern would be.
He didn’t knock him down again, but that continued throughout the fight- Haney keeping Prograis guessing, and every so often visibly causing him to stumble with a combination of crisp power and variations in timing and range.
It is a thing to be noted that Haney’s variation here was in small things- it’s not as if he displayed a huge selection of shots or movements. That’s not a negative- it’ll be for other fighters to test his limitations, if they can, but here it was simply about using the tools best-suited for the job, and leaving aside anything extraneous. The variations on what he did do were working fine, so he saw no need to overcomplicate things- and it leaves him with tools in the locker if things do go south.
He’s a very smart fighter, and this was his best performance to date. The judges gave him a shutout victory, and he’ll be very happy with that.
The Future: Where do Devin Haney and Regis Prograis go from here
There’s a lot of options on the table for Devin Haney- especially since he’s a promotional free agent at the moment, and thus not necessarily tied to the nonsense politics that often kill fights. That means that the other three champions in the division could all be potential targets. Rolly Romero has other obligations for now and should be a pretty easy victory anyway, but both Teofimo Lopez and the dangerous IBF champion Subriel Matias would be excellent opponents for him.
The other name, of course, is Ryan Garcia, who’s already thrown his hat in the ring. While not for a title, it would be a high-profile, high-money option for Haney, and another one he’d probably think he’d be considerable favourite in.
He also spoke post-fight about moving up again, to 147lbs, and winning a title there. While it’s certainly the glamour division and ‘three-weight-champion’ looks good on a legacy, it’d probably be the least interesting option for now. He’s not getting Terence Crawford, a fight with the newly promoted IBF champion Jarron Ennis would be fun, but the IBF functioning as it does he’ll most likely be occupied with a mandatory for the next little while.
And while there are several fighters who would serve as an interesting challenge if Crawford vacates the remaining belts, it just seems like Haney’s time would be better served consolidating his reputation at this new weight before moving on to the next one.
For Prograis, it’s a difficult one. He looked like a fighter who needs a rebuild, but he’s 34. He wouldn’t be the first fighter to move from a reflex-based game to something more tempered, but the successful ones usually start adjusting before time hits them like a ton of bricks. Of course, that only applies if this was all Haney brilliance and not slowdown, but a disappointing performance in his win over Danielito Zorrilla earlier in the year will cause added worry.
Basically, for the Rougarou, who his next opponent will be is secondary to the question of the overall plan. He doesn’t plan to retire and he made no indication of changing weight classes (or coaching teams), but something probably needs to give. He’d still probably be a plenty fine gatekeeper against up-and-comers in the division, but is he okay with that? Ultimately, at this stage, it’s too soon to say what his move could be.
Public Service Announcement: look out for Andy Cruz
This was all in all a pretty good card, with Ebanie Bridges losing her belt in a shock loss to the veteran Miyo Yoshida (see our coverage of that here), and Aussie Liam Paro handing Montana Love his second straight defeat. The highlight of the show for many, though, was the performance of Cuban rising star Andy Cruz.
An Olympic gold medalist and three time amateur world champion, Cruz left Cuba late last year to pursue a professional career, and looked slick in his first outing against Juan Carlos Burgos in July. His performance tonight, though, was something else. Sure, he was expected to beat his late stand-in opponent, Jovanni Straffon. But he absolutely melted him, landing 88 punches in just over two rounds while barely shipping anything in return.
It was a dazzling display of aggression and skill, and the kind of performance that has seen boxing fans demanding him be matched with the best fighters in the 135lb division already. If he wasn’t already on your radar, and you’re a boxing fan, you have to take a look.