SAN FRANCISCO – Devin Haney felt so much better boxing at a higher weight Saturday night that it has already encouraged the former undisputed lightweight champion to move up seven more pounds.
Haney revealed during his post-fight press conference Saturday night that he’ll consider competing in the welterweight division when he returns to the ring in 2024. The newly crowned WBC super lightweight champion didn’t name specific welterweights he wants to challenge and added that appealing potential fights could keep him in the 140-pound division.
The 25-year-old Haney, of Henderson, Nevada, made his somewhat surprising statement after he dominated Regis Prograis in his debut at the junior welterweight limit. A completely comfortable, sharp Haney (31-0 15 KOs) dropped Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs) with a right hand during the third round, was very effective offensively and defensively versus a strong southpaw and shut out Prograis on the scorecards of judges Rey Danseco, Mike Ross and Fernando Villarreal – each of whom scored Haney a 120-107 winner.
“I wanna talk with my dad and see what’s next,” Haney said during his post-fight press conference. “But, you know, I wanna do a fight at 147. But it’s a lotta big fights at 140. But I’m into, you know, making the biggest, you know, best fights happen in the sport of boxing. That’s where I’m at in it right now. You know, I became undisputed at 140, I mean 135, and, you know, I made history. You know, I’m in the history books forever. But now, you know, I wanna make the biggest fights happen for, you know, the most money, to be honest.”
Haney deferred to his father/trainer, Bill Haney, when asked to identify welterweights he wants to box.
“I don’t know,” Devin Haney said. “You know, I wanna talk with my dad. My dad, you know, been looking at the 147-pound landscape. So, you would have to ask him.”
Bill Haney didn’t dismiss Terence Crawford or any other welterweight as a possible opponent for his son. They both spoke more specifically, though, about battling Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis, contemporaries Devin Haney could face in high-profile fights within the 140-pound division.
“Devin is remarkable, man,” Bill Haney said. “He’s truly special. And take nothing away from the guys that’s at [135], 140, 147. But when we talk about them, they’re good. But Devin is special, and I think he showed that tonight, his ability to handicap a fighter. Whatever the fighter does special, you guys won’t get a chance to see it against Devin cuz that’s just the kinda fighter he is. And as far as 147 pounds, when looking at legacy, and so many people right now tarnish the sport of boxing by saying belts don’t matter, we look to continue being a legacy, Devin being a legacy fighter [at] 147.
“He went up from 135 and challenged the 140-pound WBC champion and he has the ability to go up and be a three-division world champion and undisputed at 25. And I think that that’s a Hall of Fame statement. And that’s one of the options that’s on there. … He’s something special, man. I can’t say enough about him.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.