Bill Haney is happy that Devin Haney will be returning to his hometown and competing against WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis on December 9th at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
If Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) performs well, he will become a two-division world champion and have the opportunity to challenge Ryan Garcia for the WBC belt in early 2024.
Even if Ryan Garcia chooses not to accept the fight, Haney aims to use the WBC title to take on other 140lb champions, including IBF champion Sabriel Matias and WBA champion Teofimo Lopez.
It will be interesting to see if Prograis’ strength and conditioning coach Evin Tobler becomes a prominent figure, after Tobler confronted Devin and Bill at the press conference, making it one of the most memorable unscripted events in boxing history.
“We go on the road and come back as champions, but to have the tools and the understanding to do that, we can’t bring a soft touch back to the Bay Area out of respect for Oakland, California and America,” said Bill Haney. Devin Haney spoke about his return to San Francisco, California to challenge for Regis Prograis’ WBC light welterweight title on December 9th.
Due to Teofimo Lopez’s unavailability and Rolando “Laurie” Romero’s injury, this could be Haney’s best opportunity for a homecoming on December 9th. Ryan Garcia does not hold a title and is coming off a loss.
“I would say this is the biggest event to come to the Bay Area because the seats are selling fast,” said Bill. He also mentioned that there are only a few front row seats left, with the best ones already taken. “This is our first time at this facility. They say every seat is a good seat. They say the arena is state-of-the-art and we’re really happy, brother. Devin returning home is where we came from. It’s like a 360-degree turn,” Bill Haney said.
It would be a remarkable achievement if Devin could fill the 18,064-seat Chase Center in his first hometown fight. “For Devin to come back to his hometown as a challenger and bring in a champion like Regis Prograis, who can end a fight in one night and ruin a homecoming with one punch, is a great opportunity for Devin and his character,” Bill said.
“This is an opportunity for us to bring boxing back to the Bay and for fans, if it’s their first time, like me, to go to Chase Center in San Francisco.
“It’s a homecoming, but because of the players we brought in, it’s all business. We have to be 100% focused, because there’s a chance we’ll get abusive there and end up getting cut out,” Bill added.
“We are very focused on Regis Prograis and giving him a chance because often fighters are not given that opportunity. Everyone ignores them, And we can understand that too.
“Since the fight with Josh Taylor, no one has raised their hand to talk about Regis or bring him home.” [in 2019], it was a war. Like I said. It was a great opportunity for us to return home with strong opponents and opponents. [WBC light welterweight champion] Regis Prograis.”
Discussing Evin Tobler’s comments about Devin’s education, Bill stated, “You don’t want to tell the truth that black families were able to educate their children carefully, keep them out of trouble, give them every lesson and every tool to be able to speak properly in front of people. It wasn’t school. It was homeschooling.”
“We didn’t have time to go to private school. We were knocking on the doors of established fighters when they were in school,” Bill Haney said.
