It’s been more than half a year since Regis Prograis faced Devin Haney in December of 2023, but the former two-time American champion has not appeared to get over his loss to Haney. During his last interview, Prograis continued to maintain that he had felt cheated by Haney due to him reportedly rehydrating up to 165 lbs by fight night, whereas Prograis rehydrated up to approximately 157 pounds.
During an interview with Fight Hub TV following his launch press conference alongside August 24th British opponent Jack Catterall (29-1, 13 KO’s), Regis Prograis (29-2, 24 KO’s) likened Devin Haney’s (31-0, 15 KO’s) rehydration levels of their December fight to Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s) coming in overweight for his now-overturned April 20th bout against Haney.
“So with my fight, you know we fought in California, and he was just way too big. He wasn’t supposed to [be that big] and the fight wasn’t supposed to happen. What he did to me [is] basically what Ryan [Garcia] did to him. I know Ryan missed the 3 pounds on purpose so he can come in big. That’s the same kind of thing Devin [Haney] did, so that’s what I feel.”
Regis Prograis
It should be noted that both Haney and Prograis rehydrated up to middleweight (160 lbs) given their weight levels [165 lbs and 156.8 lbs respectively], which made it more of an even contest than Prograis has wanted to acknowledge. Moreover, both fighters officially weighed in at the appropriate levels for their super lightweight (140 lbs) title bout, with Haney weighing in at 140 lbs while Prograis came in at 139 lbs.
Whether Devin Haney actually violated the rules is not a matter of debate, as the California State Athletic Commission’s (CSAC) own rules already debunk this notion, with it having been confirmed that the CSAC does not impose a limit on fighters regarding how much they can rehydrate.
While there was a report from BoxingScene released five years ago that stated the CSAC had created a rule to summon repercussions toward a fighter that rehydrated past 15% of their original weight, the actual rule doesn’t appear to exist. This was confirmed earlier this year in February when a report of several Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters by SportsKeeda confirmed the 15% rule had only been a proposal and has therefore not yet been put in motion since at least 2019.
Regis Prograis’ claims of being cheated by Devin Haney actually did bear some relevance in an interview he had done with Fight Hype TV where he accused Haney of using intravenous fuses (IVs), which are strictly and clearly prohibited under every sanctioning body’s or boxing commission’s rules―specifically when it comes to rehydrating.
“You can’t complain about it if you took the fight. That’s why I never really said anything about it. I saw how big he [Devin Haney] was in the ring, and really bro, I think that my fight against him [Haney], he looked bigger than his fight against Ryan [Garcia].
“He just looked a little bigger than when he fought Ryan because when you fight at 140 lbs; to blow up 25 lbs overnight―every medical professional will say you cannot do that naturally. You have to have IVs to do that. In my contract, IVs are illegal. You are not supposed to do IVs. It was illegal.
“In my contract, he wasn’t supposed to be that big. It was literally illegal but I let it go. At the end of the day, I’m not going to be crying over spilled milk. I’m a man, it’s called accountability. Whatever. But now, since he’s [Haney] crying about the weight issue, what goes around, comes around. You did it to me, and I didn’t do it to you.“
Regis Prograis
However, Prograis has not decided to maintain this accusation by taking any legal action―despite his argument actually bearing weight given it is quite rare for a fighter to rehydrate past 15% as Haney had done [having rehydrated up to roughly 18% from his original weight of 140 lbs], hence the CSAC’s proposal of punishments, investigations, or subsequent drug testing for fighters if their rehydration levels are above 15%.
As fighters do have rights to file legal motions towards state athletic commissions, as made clear when Haney petitioned the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) to change his loss against Garcia to a disqualification win, Regis Prograis still retains to pursue some sort of case against Haney with the CSAC―especially given the athletic commission’s own concerns regarding rehydration.
