It was a weekend when one fighter emphatically sealed his star status, one showed his grit and another took one more step towards potential stardom.
Main story of the weekend was the complete shutout by Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney in securing a ‘world’ title in a second weight class by defeating WBC super-lightweight (140lbs/10st) champion Regis Prograis in San Francisco, USA on Saturday. It was thought going in that the champion from New Orleans would provide a stiff test as challenger Haney had just stepped up from unifying the 135lbs (9st, 9lbs) lightweight division. The extra poundage and expected harder hitting from Prograis was never a problem though.
The 25 year old Haney (30-0, 15 KO’s) dropped Prograis in round three and from there on in the contest was effectively won. Haney dominated his southpaw opponent by following up his classy jab with straight right hand power shots, a clear way to victory against most southpaws. The always brave, but never effective Prograis, was simply unable to get in the fight. Haney won 120-107 on all three scorecards and the win and performance was so emphatic that he must be well in the pound-for-pound best mix.
The world looks to be an oyster for Haney as he seeks to secure further pay-per-view headline events, whereas the respected and magnanimous in defeat Prograis, dropped his record to 29-2 (24 KO’s). He’s likely out of future world title honours, having previously held the WBA title, narrowly losing it to Scotland’s Josh Taylor in 2019.
Haney made an big statement after looking even more impressive than recent wins against George Kambosos Jr. and Vasiliy Lomachenko.
On Sunday in Bournemouth, England, an attritional seven completed rounds resulted in Chris Billam-Smith (19-1, 13 KO’s) making a successful first defence of his WBO cruiserweight (200lbs/14st, 4lbs) world strap against Poland’s Mateuz Masternak (47-6, 31 KO’s). The Pole was ahead on two scorecards and the contest hotting up after a good Billam-Smith round in the seventh, before it was prematurely ended with Masternak unable to withstand a late body attack, despite a one minute rest. The contest was waved off when it appeared he didn’t want to come out.
The 33 year old Billam-Smith who was extended for the early rounds said post-fight “I made it hard for myself to be honest” but knew he’d hurt his opponent to the body in the seventh round and that the finish was nigh.
Watching ringside was the WBO number one contender Richard Riakporhe (the only man to defeat Billam-Smith) and a fight next between the two Brits is a natural. Both are promoted by BOXXER so it should be easy to make. The vocal Bournemouth crowd may result in it going there in summer 2024.
Knockout of the weekend was registered by Ben ‘The Surgeon’ Whittaker (5-0, 4 KO’s) who poleaxed Albanian Stiven Leonetti Dredhaj (11-3-1, 3 KO’s) with a straight right paw, concussive left hook combination after 0:54 of the fourth round. Whittaker was in a competitive contest for a few rounds as Dredhaj was high on agression but low on skill. the fight was extended four rounds probably as a result of Whittaker’s showboating and willingness to impress leading to a lapse in concentration. Once he got down to business it was ‘Goodnight Vienna’.
The Wolverhampton, England man Whittaker, continues to lay small foundation bricks to what promises to be an entertaining and title packed journey. The fact that esteemed trainer SugarHill Steward has been brought on board from debut emphasises Whittaker’s star potential. Enjoy the ride !
The Undisputed 