Devin Haney now appears to be in hot water after Regis Prograis alleged that Haney violated the California State Athletic Commission’s (CSAC) rules by rehydrating to 165 lbs on fight night during their December 9th, 2023 bout. Prograis additionally accused Haney of using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) while declaring his wish to see a rematch occur.
In an interview held approximately a month ago, Regis Prograis (29-2, 24 KO’s) defended Ryan Garcia (25-1, 20 KO’s) missing weight against Devin Haney (31-1, 15 KO’s) prior to their April 20th super lightweight title bout, asserting that this was a case of karma as Haney had rehydrated by an astronomical amount―through alleged illegal means―for his December 9th fight against Prograis, held at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California. Haney ended up winning the bout by unanimous decision (UD), claiming Prograis’ WBC 140 lbs title in the process to become a world champion in the division for the first time of his career.
“I mean, it’s a ‘go around, come around’ type of thing,” Prograis stated during an interview with Fight Hype TV when asked on Garcia missing weight prior to facing Haney. “They [Haney’s team] did it to me, and it happened to them. That’s all.
“You can’t complain about it if you took the fight. That’s why I never really said nothing 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 IV’s to do that. In my contract, IV’s are illegal. You are not supposed to do IV’s. 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.“
During his interview, Prograis insinuated that Haney had made use of intravenous infusions (IVs)―which can help with rehydrating―which are considered of illegal use according to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and many of the sanctioning and governing bodies within boxing. Given it is considered rare for fighters to rehydrate up to 25 lbs naturally, Prograis alleged that Haney had made use of IVs to rehydrate to 165 lbs as reported by the CSAC.
The WBC, who sanctioned the December 9th bout between Haney and Prograis, also regards the use of IVs for rehydrating as illegal according to the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association’s (VADA) list of prohibited substances and methods:
On the night of the fight itself, Regis Prograis weighed in at 156.8 lbs, more than 16 lbs from the reported weight of 139 lbs at the official weigh-in held before his December 9th fight.
The CSAC still prohibits the use of IVs for rehydration and has also set a new rule in 2019 disallowing fighters from rehydrating past 15% on fight night, compared to how they weighed in during official weigh-ins. With Devin Haney reportedly weighing 165 lbs compared to the 140 lbs, he technically violated the CSAC’s rules by rehydrating approximately 18% by the time of his fight against Regis Prograis on December 9th.
However, while the CSAC did publicly reveal that Devin Haney rehydrated more than 15% between his official-weigh in and his fight against Regis Prograis the next day, they did not cancel the fight as their rules stated could happen. This might have been due to Haney weighing in shortly before his fight on December 9th, preventing the CSAC from responding in time to cancel the bout.
Additionally, the commission might also be compromised, having concluded the financial benefits they would gain from the Haney-Prograis fight exceeded the apparent rehydration violation that Haney made on the night of the fight.
With the only repercussions of rehydrating past the 15% threshold pertaining to the cancellation of a match, the CSAC’s inability to address Haney’s violation on time likely means Haney will not suffer any further repercussions. While the California Code Of Regulations does not specify whether such violations can result in the overturning of a match to rule it a disqualification, the CSAC has not actually specified this to be the case in their rules concerning professional boxing, particularly rules 298 (Weights and Classes) and 299 (Dehydration and Rehydration) of Article 6 (Physical Examinations and Safety) which do not refer to any any sort of rule relating to a penalty for rehydrating past 15%.
Nevertheless that did not stop Regis Prograis from unleashing a rant on Twitter/X where he reignited the discussion of Haney’s excessive rehydration and seemed keen on getting a rematch with Haney.
“I’m a b*** but you taking losses off your record,” Prograis stated, referring to Haney’s attempts to turn his April 20th loss to Ryan Garcia into a disqualification win. “Ryan had you face down ass up. Run it back and I promise I’ll stop you. And leave the PED’s home.“
