Devin Haney and Regis Prograis are officially scheduled to face each other on December 9th this year, as announced by Matchroom and DAZN through their official channels. The fight will see Prograis defending his WBC super lightweight title for the second time against Haney, and will be staged in the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
Haney (30-0, 15 KO’s), aged 24, has gone to great lengths to secure a fight with Regis Prograis (29-1, 24 KO’s), even vacating his WBC lightweight title at the WBC’s request — subsequently earning the status of WBC champion in recess. As he cannot hold titles in two division, Haney notably made the sacrifice of relinquishing his lightweight title to be able to challenge for Prograis’ WBC super lightweight title.
Having already hinted at wanting to fight at 140 lbs, Haney has now definitively made the move to stake his claim in the division by fighting a very game opponent in Regis Prograis.
Regis Prograis, 34, will be fighting perhaps the strongest challenge of his career, after perhaps Josh Taylor (19-1, 13 KO’s), in the young and unbeaten Devin Haney whose last match involved him grabbing a narrow victory over future Hall of Famer Vasyl Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KO’s).
The wide disparity in age, with Prograis being nearly ten years Haney’s senior, is only a minor obstacle for the former who has shown to be in a relative form of mental and physical peak. This match ensures that no such comparisons will be particularly useful to predict the outcome of this match, as both fighters seem to be in their prime — or near it, in Haney’s case — and have a set of skills and enough talent to make the fight evenly contested.
Haney might encounter even greater challenges with Prograis than he did against Lomachenko, as his fellow American opponent is renowned for his punching power and ring skills, closely matching Haney’s abilities.
In addition to Haney needing to adapt to his new and higher weight class at 140 lbs, he could potentially face his toughest test in Prograis. Up until his last match with Danielito Zorrilla (17-2, 13 KO’s) roughly three months ago, Prograis had notably been on a brutal KO/TKO streak that spanned for four matches.
It’s highly probable that Prograis is the hardest puncher Haney will encounter, especially since Haney is now competing at the highest weight of his career. This adds an intriguing dimension to a bout that can confidently be viewed as a 50-50 matchup.
It is still unknown whether Haney will stay at super lightweight regardless of the result, but depending on his own performance against Prograis, there is a chance he will stay at 140 lbs which will open up the opportunity for his lightweight belts to be vacated.
In any case, the super lightweight division has been thrust into the spotlight with this bout between two highly skilled Americans boasting world title credentials. The victor will claim not only victory but also the accompanying rewards, which in a fight of this magnitude is likely to make the winner become regarded as a pound-for-pound fighter — or boost them up along the P4P rankings if they are already rated there, which comes with its own perks.
The fight is set to be promoted my Matchroom and broadcasted by DAZN, and will feature Haney return to fight in his birth city of San Francisco, California, at the Chase Center, for the first time of his career.
