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Mike Coppinger, ESPN
Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney told ESPN he is vacating all four of his titles ahead of his Dec. 9 junior welterweight championship fight against Regis Prograis.
Haney, 25, most recently retained his WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO belts at 135 pounds after he scored a unanimous decision over Vasiliy Lomachenko in May.
Before that, Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) defeated George Kambosos in a fight for the undisputed championship in June 2022 in Australia and returned to his opponent’s homeland for the rematch, which Haney won in similarly dominant fashion.
“I did everything at 135 that I could,” Haney said Wednesday. “The biggest fight for me was making that Gervonta Davis fight, and his side showed no interest in making the fight. I’ve outgrown the division, so now I make my quest to 140 to become a two-division champion.
“And after this fight, I look to become a three-division champion and move up to 147, God willing that I’m successful in this fight.”
The WBC lightweight title will now belong to Shakur Stevenson after he defeated Edwin De Los Santos earlier this month (Haney had been named champion in recess by the WBC). Davis holds the WBA’s secondary title, so he’s likely to be elevated to recognized champion.
The vacant IBF title is expected to be contested between Kambosos and Lomachenko, the organization’s top two contenders. The pair are in advanced talks for a fight that could take place in April in Australia, sources said.
The WBO title picture is less clear. Lomachenko is its No. 1 contender, but he appears to be out of the mix. That would leave Denys Berinchyk and Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz to vie for the vacant belt.
Haney, meanwhile, said he is serious about his plan to fight at 147 pounds after only one bout at 140. According to ESPN BET, he was a -400 favorite as of Wednesday evening to defeat Prograis in San Francisco on DAZN PPV.
But it’s no easy task. Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) is a vaunted power puncher and is rated No. 3 by ESPN at 140 pounds. His lone pro defeat came via majority decision to former undisputed champion Josh Taylor in 2019.
“I made history in becoming undisputed, and that was a milestone for me,” said Haney, ESPN’s No. 7 pound-for-pound boxer. “But now I’m at the point in my career where I want to make the biggest and the best fights happening in the world. I’m a pay-per-view fighter.”