By Ian S Palmer
Original article; https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/regis-prograis-vs-devin-haney-betting-odds-and-prediction/22374/
WBC Junior Welterweight Champion Regis Prograis of New Orleans returns to the ring this Saturday, December 9th when he takes on unbeaten Devin Haney, the former IBF, WBA Super World, WBO, WBC ‘Franchise,’ and Ring Magazine World Lightweight Beltholder. The 12-rounder from Haney’s hometown of San Francisco can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Prograis last boxed in June when he beat Danielito Zorrilla by split decision in an atrocious fight. Prograis had stopped Jose Zepeda in the 11thround last November to win the vacant title. Haney last saw action in May when he beat Vasyl Lomachenko via a controversial unanimous decision.
The 34-year-old Prograis has an impressive record of 29-1 with 24 Ko’s. He won the interim WBC Junior Welterweight Title when he stopped Julius Indongo in the second round in March, 2018 and then won the vacant WBC Diamond belt against Juan Velasco with an eighth-round stoppage four months later. He defended against Terry Flanagan and Kiryl Relikh and also won the WBA belt with the win over Relikh. He then ran into IBF Champion Josh Taylor in the World Boxing Super Series Final in October, 2019 and was edged by a majority decision for his lone pro defeat.
Prograis enjoyed a fine amateur career and has also won the NABF Junior Super Lightweight Title and NABF Super Lightweight Crown since turning pro in 2012. He’s boxed a total of 148 rounds since then and stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 67-inch reach. The most noticeable thing about Prograis is obviously the 24 Ko’s in his 29 victories which translates into a current knockout ratio of 82.8 per cent.
Prograis is a dangerous puncher who isn’t really interested in hearing what the judges have to say about his fights but he’s also a pretty good boxer. Along with beating Zepeda, Indongo, Relikh, Velasco, Ivan Redkach and Flanagan, he’s also beaten the likes of Joel Diaz Jr., Luis Eduardo Florez, Aaron Herrera, Abel Ramos, Juan Heraldez and Hector Velazquez. Prograis was interested in a rematch with Josh Taylor at one point to avenge his lone loss and that could still be a possibility in the future.
Haney is just 25 years old and has evolved from being a can’t-miss prospect to a world champion following his excellent 138-bout amateur career after getting into the sport as a seven-year-old. He won a silver medal at the USA Junior National Championships in 2013 and reached the quarterfinals of the World Juniors the same year. He then won a gold medal at the 2014 US Junior National Championships and the 2015 USA Youth National Championships.
He was the youngest boxer ever to win the Youth World Championships and captured a total of seven national titles along the way. Haney, who was born in San Francisco and fights out of Las Vegas, then turned pro in December of 2015 as a 16-year-old and has a perfect record of 30-0 as a pro with 15 Ko’s and has 198 rounds under his belt. He won the WBC Interim World Title in 2019 by stopping Zaur Abdullaev and the full title in his next fight with a unanimous decision over Alfredo Santiago.
Haney defended the title by unanimous decision against Yuriorkis Gamboa, Jorge Linares and Joseph Diaz before beating George Kambosos twice in a row by unanimous decision in Australia to win the rest of the titles and defend them once. He fought once more as a lightweight against Lomachenko and is now heading north in weight. Haney has also won several regional and minor titles along the way including the WBC Youth World, USBA, IBF North American, WBC International, and WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight Belts. He measures 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 71-inch reach for a four-inch reach advantage on Prograis.
Haney possesses tremendous skills and speed with decent power with a current knockout ratio of 50 per cent but has gone the distance in his past seven fights with his last stoppage coming in September, 2019 when he halted Abdullaev after four rounds. His first four pro bouts took place in Mexico since he was too young to box professionally in America at the time. He’s beaten everybody in front of him so far with his toughest opponents being Lomachenko, Kambosos, Diaz Jr., Linares, Gamboa, Santiago, Antonio Moran, Mason Menard, Juan Carlos Burgos and Xolisani Ndongeni.
Prediction…
Prograis is a world-class boxer with plenty of skills and power with his power being the reason for most of his victories. Haney on the other hand relies on his skills to get by and I don’t really believe he has the power to stop Prograis as the champion has a solid chin. Haney, who is nine years younger, is moving up in weight and it’s possible that Prograis has the power to drop or stop him but I’m leaning toward Haney here purely because of his boxing skills, which are slightly better than those of Prograis, who looked befuddled in his last outing against Zorrilla. .
