Devin Haney is promoting his pay-per-view fight against Regis Prograis, which will be a Bay Area homecoming as he looks to become a two-division world champion, and he will compete for Regis Prograis' WBC junior welterweight world title. The bout on DAZN pay-per-view, will see the undisputed lightweight world champion looking to add to his legacy on the second week of December.
Yet, despite the compelling match-up some of Haney's brief and limited media availability was spent talking about his WBC mandatory lightweight challenger. Haney was able to clarify the 75-25 percent offer that was presented to Stevenson, in which Haney feels Stevenson ducked the bout, as he took a similar deal to fight George Kambosos Jnr to become undisputed. Haney also viewed Stevenson's refusal as shortsighted and thinking about greed rather than legacy.
“Shakur knows what time it is with me," said Haney inside the Chase Center after the press conference in San Francisco, California. "He knows that my offer was legitimate, and if he really believed in himself and if he believed that I was everything that he claimed that I was, he would have taken the fight."
Stevenson is now set to fight Edwin De Los Santos for the vacant WBC lightweight title, on November 16th mere weeks prior to Haney's fight with Regis Prograis. Haney and Stevenson are two of the biggest names in the sport of boxing, and they have both become the chatter of the 'new era of boxing', as they are modern superstars, who look to carry the sport forward. Haney took time to talk to the media and emphasize his willingness to fight the best in the world, dispelling a theme of the press conference in which some from Regis Prograis' team felt as though he had cherry-picked his way to a world title, and even an undisputed belt.
“It was the most money that he would have ever made in all his fights put together with that twenty-five percent, and that’s facts," said Haney. "If he felt like I was so easy, so green, whatever he says, then he would have taken the fight, and he would have had a shot at the undisputed [lightweight] titles like I did."
Haney wanted the world to know he is eager to face the best whether it is Gervonta Davis, Regis Prograis, or Shakur Stevenson.
“I’m willing to fight the best fighters in the world. I’ve been saying this for a while now, so I’m not picking fights. I’m trying to fight the best fighters in the world," said Haney. “Those fights [big fights] could happen in the future, but my main focus is Regis Prograis to become a two-division world champion."
Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, who was eager to tell the media abruptly that 9,000 tickets have already been sold for this event, and that the fight is tracking to be a sell-out. Haney will be returning home for the first time since being an amateur boxer, who fought on Karim Mayfield's undercard nearly a decade ago, now Haney is fighting to make his own case for being the face of boxing - but also the face of a region, the Bay Area. For Haney's career, this is everything as it will define everything prior for better or worse.
