Devin Haney simply didn’t look healthy anymore.
During fight week, his condition got considerably worse as the days went by. On Wednesday, he appeared thin, on Thursday he was frail. By the time weigh-ins arrived, Haney looked like he hadn’t eaten in days. It never quite mattered, however. He always jumped onto the scales weighing 135 pounds or less, no matter how much it took out of him.
At this point, his body must be thanking him. The 24-year-old is officially giving himself a slight reprieve when he heads to the super lightweight division on December 9th, to take on Regis Prograis.
Haney is eating a bit more nowadays. His face also looks fuller. But while it’s clear that he’s loving the extra weight, Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) isn’t completely washing his hands of the lightweight division. Simply put, if returning to 135 makes him the most dollars and provides him with legacy-defining fights, Haney is willing to make those grueling weight cuts again.
“We gotta see,” said Haney to a group of reporters when asked if he’ll ever return to the lightweight division. “There’s a lot of big fights at 135, big fights at 140, we’ll see what makes the most sense.”
For now, lightweight is a thing of the past.
Haney has it all lined up. Continue to train, bulk up, sharpen his skills, and then go out there and dominate the current WBC 140-pound champion. Somewhere in his schedule, Haney also plans on watching tape of Prograis. More than anything, he’s doing it out of respect. The former undisputed lightweight champ has already observed Prograis, studied him, and paid attention to every detail of what he likes to do in the ring.
In his opinion, it isn’t complex breaking Prograis down. He isn’t some bemusing puzzle. Haney views him as a strong puncher, but that’s about it. So while studying him will be easy, Haney doesn’t believe that Prograis will have that same luxury. This is, after all, his 140-pound debut.
“It’s no secret what he’s gonna bring to the table but we don’t know what I’m gonna bring to the table.”