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Devin Haney appears to want to step up for a risky fight straight soon if he is to realign with Matchroom Boxing and DAZN.
During an appearance on "The DAZN Boxing Show" on Tuesday, promoter Eddie Hearn disclosed that Haney had informed him that his next opponent would be Regis Prograis. Since his three-bout contract with Bob Arum's Top Rank Inc. and DiBella Entertainment expired following his fight against Vasiliy Lomachenko on May 20, the undefeated, undisputed lightweight champion is now a promotional free agent.
Prograis just inked a three-fight promotional contract with Hearn's Matchroom Boxing. On June 17 at the Smoothie King Centre in New Orleans, if the much favoured Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) defeats Puerto Rico's Danielito Zorrilla (17-1, 13 KOs), Hearn plans to start talks for a Prograis-Haney matchup for Prograis' WBC super lightweight title.
“[Haney] called me the other night,” Hearn told co-hosts Barak Bess and Akin Reyes. “We had a great conversation. He wants to fight Regis Prograis. You know, it’s a tremendous fight. He wants to move up to 140. He wants a belt. And, you know, I said to him, ‘You’ve gotta be a little bit careful,’ because part of his value right now is that he’s undisputed. So, when he moves up a division, that’s the risk that he’s taking from there.
“But he has identified Regis Prograis as the fight that he wants. I think it’s an unbelievable fight. Regis loves the fight. Obviously he’s got Zorrilla first on June 17th. He’s gotta come, he's gotta smash him to pieces and he’s gotta [call] out Devin Haney. We’ve gotta get them guys together. We’ve gotta get the right number for both guys and I believe we can make that happen.”
Prior to signing a three-fight contract with Top Rank and DiBella Entertainment in March 2022, Matchroom promoted each of Haney's previous six fights. All six of those fights were broadcast on DAZN as well.
Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) has always admitted that it is extremely difficult for him to stay under the 135-pound limit for lightweights. After defeating Lomachenko, the 24-year-old product of Oakland, California, acknowledged that his reign as the IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO lightweight champion might be coming to an end.
Throughout his 11-year professional career, Prograis, 34, has fought at or close to the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds. The powerful southpaw from New Orleans has faced former undisputed 140-pound champion Josh Taylor (19-0, 13), who he has only lost to in a 12-round majority decision.