They could not have been more wrong as Haney knocked Prograis down in the third round and won every round in a superb display of boxing to win the WBC 140-pound belt by a unanimous decision.
Prograis never was able to offer any offense against the pure skills of Haney, and after he hit the deck from a short Haney right in round three, Prograis was unable to win even on the inside against Haney and clearly looked to be a level below the new champion.
All three judges scored the fight the same as I did at 120-107.
Haney will certainly drop his remaining lightweight titles and stay at junior welterweight where he looked strong and natural at the weight.
Haney's future looks bright with the biggest potential fight with WBO champion Teofimo Lopez, which could happen with Haney having worked with Lopez's promoter Top Rank in the past, although it's unlikely to happen right away with Lopez expected to defend against former WBC and WBO champion Jose Ramirez in early 2024.
Ryan Garcia has been mentioned as a possibility but I don't see Garcia as a serious threat to Haney, although a Garcia fight would pad his wallet more than a little.
IBF champion Subriel Matias would bring a bruising style that I would love to see Haney against but Matias's link with PBC makes that a long considering the risk/reward ratio.
The PBC connection makes a chance at lightly-regarded WBA champion Rolly Romero even less likely than Matias in a fight that would be more fun at the press conferences than in the ring.
As for Prograis, a two-time champion, it's very evident from his last two fights that he looked stronger than he actually was in winning the vacant title last year due to the fading of his opponent, Jose Zepeda, and that the generation of junior welterweights that included Prograis, Josh Taylor, and Jose Ramirez turned out to be less than boxing watchers thought they would become.
One thing is for sure: Devin Haney is a terrific all-around fighter. If he has added a little more pop to his punch at the higher weight, Haney will be a very difficult out for any fighter around his division for quite a while.
Devin Haney may have delivered the performance of the evening but the fight from ESPN and Top Rank from Pembroke Pines Florida was the fight of the night and will be in the running for the fight of the year with previously unknown Rafael Espinoza shocking WBO champion Robeisy Ramirez to take his title via majority decision.
Espinoza was an unknown quantity entering the fight with an unbeaten record against unknown competition in his native Mexico but with 18 knockouts in 21 wins and a freakish 6'1 frame for a fighter in the featherweight division, one didn't know how good Espinoza was going to be.
The answer was very good as Espinoza won the first four rounds by outworking Ramirez and keeping the shorter man off balance.
Espinoza was winning the fifth until late in the round, Espinoza was switching his stances and just as he began to move, Ramirez fired a short bullet of a right hand that knocked down Espinoza with Espinoza beating the count but in serious condition.
Espinoza took advantage of the little time remaining in the round to survive but Ramirez took control of the fight and won every round on my card from the sixth through the ninth, appearing to be on his way to a difficult retention of his title with Espinoza earning deserved credit for a gallant effort.
Instead, Espinoza turned the tide by winning the tenth and eleventh rounds and the fight was literally on the line with my card reading 104-104, six rounds to five for Espinoza but Ramirez scored a 10-8 fifth round due to the knockdown.
Round twelve saw Espinoza firing all the punches that he had at Ramirez until finally hurting him late in the round and dropping Ramirez along the ropes.
Ramirez would gallantly rise and finish on his feet but the knockdown was enough to lift the challenger to a majority decision by scores of 115-111, 114-112, and 113-113.
I gave Espinoza the nod 114-112 in one of the biggest upsets of the year and the best fights of the campaign as well.
Ramirez appeared to lack focus in his pre-fight interview with Mark Kriegel due to various issues with his family in his native Cuba and I even thought before the fight that if Espinoza was as good as his record Ramirez could be in trouble as a fighter that isn't in the correct frame of mind.
Still, no one knew how good Espinoza was going to be, and while Ramirez would be very deserving of a rematch, that would depend on the WBO as Espinoza was an optional defense and the WBO"s mandatory challenger Arnold Khegai could be forced on Espinoza before a rematch or unification possibilities.
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