Regis Prograis believes Devin Haney 31-0 (15) is capable of stopping Ryan Garcia 24-1 (20), but only if he jumps on him if he gets him hurt.
Former undisputed lightweight champion Haney, 25, made an impressive junior welterweight debut in December when he challenged 35-year-old southpaw Prograis 29-2 (25) for his WBC belt.
Prograis was expected to test Haney but instead it was a route. He didn’t win a round and had to climb off the canvas in the third.
Haney will make the first defence of the belt against 25-year-old Garcia at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday night.
Much of the talk in the lead up to the fight has been about Garcia’s mental focus. Ever since the fight was announced two months ago Garcia has been extremely active on social media, posting what can best be described as bizarre content with no real purpose.
Fans and pundits are left wondering if it is a true reflection into the state of his mind, or a long game troll to disguise the fact that he is indeed taking training seriously and will be ready for Haney on fight night.
Prograis admits he is just as baffled as anyone by Garcia’s erratic behaviour.
“I don’t know what’s going on with Ryan. Ryan is weird. It just looks like he’s playing around. Maybe he is serious about the fight,” Prograis said to FightHype.
“Ryan is a YouTuber like Jake Paul, so he knows how to get attention. He knows. I don’t know how much of it is play with Ryan and how much of it is maybe he’s off.
“I still feel Devin [is going to win]. The thing about Devin is, he’s serious about his craft. You can tell. He has everything in order.
“That’s one thing I noticed about him. He has everything. It’s a machine behind him. He has everything running smoothly.”
The bad blood between Haney and Garcia has been bubbling away since the fight was announce and has frequently boiled over.
At a photo shoot atop the Empire State Building this week Haney shoved Garcia when he made a comment about his mum.
Haney’s father, trainer and manager Bill Haney has been a frequent target of Garcia too and hasn’t wasted an opportunity to return serve.
Just this week the senior Haney said he will be sending out his son to “kill” Garcia, prompting this response from Garcia: “I’m going to kill him. I don’t care what happens in this ring. If he ain’t out fucking face-first then I did something wrong.
“If I’ve got to elbow that motherfucker, break his shoulders then I’m going to do it. If I have to bite both of his ears off, I am.”
Ultimately the fight will be decided by who can manage their emotions the best. And Prograis has a clear view on who that will be.
“I lean more towards Devin. I feel like Devin can outbox him and potentially get the stoppage later,” Prograis said.
“But with Devin, somebody asked me the other day about his killer instinct. With me, he should have stepped on the gas. I don’t know if he can do that with Ryan, especially if he gets him hurt. He should press on the gas, but I don’t know.”
