Regis Prograis, former WBC light welterweight champion, does not blame Devin Haney for giving up his title rather than accepting the poorly paid and risky fight against his mandatory fighter Sandor Martin.
Left hooks, not performance enhancing drugs, led to Haney’s downfall
Prograis noted that Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) wants a big fight and he wouldn’t get that against Sandor, who would have been a tough opponent for him. He thinks it would be better for Haney to have a rematch with Ryan Garcia, who defeated him by a 12-round decision on April 20.
Prograis says the positive Ostarine that Ryan tested for wasn’t the reason Haney lost to him. He believes it was the left hooks that Haney kept taking that were the reason he lost. It had nothing to do with the stuff Ryan had in his system.
Haney’s weight complaint is ironic
Regis finds it ironic that Haney complains that Ryan was too heavy for the fight when he himself did the same against him, rehydrating to 160 pounds after weighing 140 pounds for their fight on December 9 last year at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
“I heard him say, ‘Boxing is dirty.’ It’s only dirty when it’s happening to you,” Regis Prograis told MillCity Boxing 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 got to figure out who it’s going to be.”
Haney and his father, Bill, complain about Ryan’s positive test 24/7 and have made a career out of it, gaining secondhand fame. By talking about it, Haney keeps his name in the spotlight.
“I think it’s a combination of both. I don’t think he’s afraid of Sandor Martin, but he’s not getting paid for it. It’s risk vs. reward,” Prograis said, explaining why Haney gave up his WBC light welterweight title.
Most people agree that Sandor Martin would have been a nightmare for Haney and would have likely finished what Ryan started by knocking him out. A loss to Sandor would have been the end of Haney as a prospect. Although Haney would still be useful as a test horse as an opponent for the up-and-coming talent, he could forget about PPV.
Rematch with Garcia makes more sense
“If I were him, I would do the same thing. There is little money. Fighting Sandor Martin is very little reward for very high risk. He (Haney) can probably do something else. That’s why he’s giving up the belt,” Prograis said of Haney’s right decision in giving up his WBC light welterweight belt to avoid Sandor.
It makes sense if Haney and Bill can talk Ryan into a rematch, but if that doesn’t happen, they’ll try to scrape together fights with anyone and would likely end up agreeing to be the challenger to IBF middleweight (140-pound) champion Liam Paro or WBO champion Teofimo Lopez.
“That would make more sense (a rematch against Ryan). Whatever was in his system, it didn’t help the fight. Ryan did the same thing he did to me. That’s how I feel,” Prograis said of his belief that Ryan beat Haney the same way Devin beat him when he rehydrated to 160 for their fight last December.
