Devin Haney announced himself at super-lightweight by snatching the WBC World title from Regis Prograis over twelve rounds.
The 120-107 scorecards across the board are a testament to the gusty and punch-perfect display from Haney, who fought in his hometown of San Francisco as the challenger.
It was total domination from close to the first bell. Haney out-landed the champion in all twelve rounds, particularly in four, five, seven, eight and eleven when Prograis managed to connect with just two shots according to CompuBox. Haney landed double figures in each.
The stat collector – which has been operating for 38 years – recorded the New Orleans native as registering just 36 shots from 363 thrown throughout the contest, breaking the record of lowest connected shots in a mens championship fight and making it the 6th fewest in any 12-round fight.
Haney W 12 Prograis- Haney took Regis to school, landing 35.1% of his total punches & 46.5% of his power shots & limiting Prograis to 36 total connects, 6th fewest in a 12-round fight in CompuBox history. Prograis has landed just 78 punches in his last 2 fights. #HaneyPrograispic.twitter.com/Qhv5uXBs9P
— CompuBox (@CompuBox) December 10, 2023
That title-fight output record was set by Edwin De Los Santos recently when he landed just 40 punches on an elusive Shakur Stevenson.
The bouts, however, were received in stark contrast. Stevenson was accused of fighting a dull fight, avoiding any sort of exchange in favour of moving his way to winning the WBC Lightweight World title, previously vacated by Haney.
Haney, on the other hand, was praised for a statement performance over the two-time titlist Prograis, especially given it was his first contest at super-lightweight.
Despite accusations that he had no power to speak of, Haney dropped Prograis in the third round and wobbled him in the sixth. It was a stellar performance and has inserted the 25-year-old – now a two-weight champion – in the pound-for-pound conversation if he wasn’t there already.
Both Prograis and Stevenson praised their rival post-fight, as did most in the boxing world.