Regis Prograis, former WBC light welterweight champion, doesn’t blame Devin Haney for vacating his title rather than take the low-paying, risky fight against his mandatory Sandor Martin.
Left Hooks, Not PEDs, Led to Haney’s Downfall
Prograis notes that Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) wants a big fight, and he wasn’t going to get that facing Sandor, who would have been a tough match-up for him. He thinks it’s better for Haney to fight a rematch with Ryan Garcia, who beat him by a 12-round decision on April 20th.
Prograis says that the Ostarine Ryan tested positive for wasn’t why Haney lost to him. He feels it was the left hooks that Haney kept getting hit with is why he lost. It had nothing to do with the stuff Ryan had in his system.
Haney’s Weight Complaint Ironic
Regis sees it as ironic that Haney is complaining about Ryan being heavy for their fight when he did the same thing against him by rehydrating to the 160s after weighing in at 140 for their clash on December 9th last year at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
“I heard him say, ‘Boxing is dirty.’ It’s only dirty when it happens to you,” said Regis Prograis to MillCity Boxing, talking about Devin Haney. “I don’t know what he’s going to do. I know he wants a big name. He wants a big fight, but he’s going to have to find out who it’s going to be.”
Haney and his dad, Bill, have been complaining 24/7 about Ryan’s positive test, making a career out of this by getting second-hand fame. By talking it up, Haney is keeping his name in the spotlight.
“I think it’s a combination of both. I don’t think he’s scared of Sandor Martin, but he’s not getting paid nothing. It is risk vs. reward,” said Prograis, explaining why Haney vacated his WBC light welterweight title.
Most people agree that Sandor Martin would have been a nightmare for Haney, and likely would have finished what Ryan started by knocking him out. A loss to Sandor would have been the end of Haney as a viable name. Although Haney would still be useful as an opponent for the up-and-comers as a trial horse, he could forget about PPV.
Rematch with Garcia Makes More Sense
“If I was him, I would do the same thing. There’s little money. To fight Sandor Martin, it is a very low reward for a very high risk. He [Haney] can probably do something else. That’s why he’s letting the belt go,” said Prograis about Haney doing the right thing by vacating his WBC light welterweight belt to avoid Sandor.
It makes sense if Haney and Bill can sweet talk Ryan into giving them a rematch, but without that happening, they are going to be trying to scrape fights together with anyone and would likely end up agreeing to be the challenger for IBF 140-lb champion Liam Paro or WBO champ Teofimo Lopez.
“That would make more sense [to rematch Ryan]. Whatever he had in his system, that didn’t do nothing for the fight. Ryan did the same thing he did to me. That’s how I feel,” said Prograis about his believing that Ryan messed up Haney the same way Devin did against him when he rehydrated into the 160s for their clash last December.
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