By Mario Ortega Jr. (Ringside)

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA  — The former unified lightweight champion Devin Haney impressed in his 140-pound debut, issuing Regis Prograis the most one-sided defeat of his career en route to claiming the WBC light welterweight title before his hometown crowd.

Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada was just too much of everything for Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs) of Houston, Texas by way of New Orleans, Louisiana over the twelve rounds.

After a feeling out opening stanza, the fight was all Haney. In the second round, Haney, 140, began to find the angles he needed to land, which he did with one right uppercut in particular.

Early in the third, Haney scored a knockdown with a lead right over the top of Prograis’ guard.

Prograis, 139, came out for the fourth on steady legs, but the challenger continued to give him a boxing lesson as the fight wore on. Haney landed a crisp one-two combination to punctuate the fourth round.

Haney continued to blister Prograis with combinations in the fifth round, while also putting some money in the bank via a body attack.

The one-two worked again for Haney as he rocked Prograis back on his heels with less than a minute to go in the sixth.

The pace slowed in the seventh, with Prograis was unwilling to let his hands go. The referee and the ringside doctor took a long look in the Prograis’ corner prior to the eighth.

Haney led the action in the eighth and ninth, but with less and less to counter, the Bay Area native was content to box and move. With a minute to go in the ninth, Prograis over extended himself with a left and Haney made him pay with a clubbing right that excited the crowd.

Haney seemed satisfied sending the bout to the cards as he exhibited some flashy defense in the championship rounds, but never pressed for the stoppage as he outboxed Prograis from bell-to-bell.

In the end, all three judges scored the shutout for Haney, 120-107. The question now is where does Haney go next. 140-pounds is one of the deepest divisions in boxing, but the Haneys have already floated designs on the welterweight division. Promoter Eddie Hearn floated the name of Ryan Garcia after the bout, but that seems like an unlikely prospect.

In the final appetizer before the main event, WBO #11 ranked light welterweight Liam Paro scored two knockdowns early in the sixth en route to stopping Montana Love midway through the round.

Paro (24-0, 15 KOs) of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and Love (18-1-1, 9 KOs) of Cleveland, Ohio fought on even terms early in the fight. There was not much to distinguish the two as the boo birds derided the lack of early action. 

Things heated up a bit more late in the fifth, but it was the sixth where the fight took a quick turn. Paro, 140, landed clean with a left uppercut that sent Love, 140, to the seat of his pants for the first knockdown. 

When action resumed, Paro moved in aggressively, eventually landing a straight left that sent Love down for a second time. Love made it to his feet, but when Paro forced him into a neutral corner with a flurry, Love covered up for too long for referee Thomas Taylor’s liking. The referee stopped the fight at 1:49 of round six.

With the win, Paro, who had a scheduled title bout against Regis Prograis slip between his fingers due to injury earlier this year, claimed the vacant regional WBO Intercontinental 140-pound title.

Cruz Takes out Straffon in 3

Fast-rising lightweight prospect Andy Cruz (2-0, 1 KO) of Miami, Florida by way of Matanzas, Matanzas, Cuba completely steamrolled normally durable Jovanni Straffon (26-6-1, 19 KOs) of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico en route to a third-round stoppage. 

Cruz, 134.4, let loose with both hands from the opening bell. It was all Straffon, 134, could do to weather the onslaught. The second round was especially one-sided, as Cruz straffed Straffon with everything in his arsenal.

Early in the third round, Cruz pressed Straffon into a neutral corner, landing clean with both hands. Having seen enough of the mismatch, referee Edward Collantes leaped in to stop the bout at :53 of the third round. 

With the win, Cruz successfully defended his IBF International lightweight title and claimed the vacant WBA Continental Latin America lightweight title. 

Yoshida Upsets Bridges to Claim Bantamweight Title

Coming in on short notice, Miyo Yoshida (17-4) of New York, New York by way of Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Japan upset media darling Ebanie Bridges (9-2, 4 KOs) of New South Wales, Australia to claim the IBF bantamweight championship by ten-round unanimous decision. 

Yoshida, 117.6, was in the face of the champion Bridges, 117.8, from the get-go and never took a backward step. Yoshida, despite having campaigned mainly in the 115-pound super flyweight division throughout her career, looked like the bigger fighter and landed the harder shots.

Bridges, fighting for the first time in a year with a surgically-repaired right hand,  never was able to force Yoshida into any sort of retreat and ate the more eye-catching shots as they exchanged throughout a fight fought completely on the inside. 

Yoshida, who entered the ring as the IBF #10 ranked bantamweight and had fought just one month ago in a losing effort to Shurretta Metcalf, closed out the fight strong and raised her hands in celebration as the final bell rang. In the end, all three judges scored the fight wide for Yoshida by scores of 97-93 and 99-91 twice

Middleweight prospect Amari Jones (11-0, 10 KOs) of Las Vegas by way of Oakland, California was impressive in his Bay Area homecoming as he stopped tough veteran Quilisto Madera (14-5, 9 KOs) of Stockton, California in the fifth-round. 

Jones, 159.2 controlled Madera, 160, in the opening round with his jab. As the fight progressed into round three, Jones’ right hand came more into play and became the dominant punch of the fight. 

The end of round four got Jones’ home crowd excited as a right hand snapped Madera’s head back against the turnbuckle and set off an exchange along the ropes. 

Jones picked right up where he left off early in the fifth. With Jones landing clean, two-handed combinations as Madera backed against the ropes, referee Thomas Taylor leaped in to stop the fight. Official time of the stoppage was 1:44 of the fifth round. 

Beatriz Ferreira (4-0, 2 KOs) of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil saw her own blood for the first time as a professional en route to an eight-round stoppage of a game Destiny Jones (5-2, 2 KOs) of Austin, Texas.

Ferreira, 130, found a willing opponent in Jones, 129.8, who had her moments throughout the bout. Ferreira is just a fearless punching machine and Jones had to work hard to keep pace. Twice Ferreira knocked Jones’ mouthpiece out, once with a right late in the second and again in the fourth.

After Jones drew blood with an accidental elbow late in round four, Ferreira seemed more determined to go for the stoppage as the fight progressed. Ferreira eventually landed with a sweeping left hook with seconds to go in round seven that dropped Jones, who was leaning that way.

At the beginning of round eight, Jones did not react well when asked to touch gloves and referee Edward Collantes asked the doctor for a look. On the advice of the doctor, Collantes stopped the bout. Official time of stoppage was :05 of round eight.

In the opening bout, Shamar Canal (7-0, 4 KOs) of Albany, New York continued his rise with a dominant six-round unanimous decision over veteran Jose Antonio Meza (8-9, 2 KOs) of Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico. 

Canal, 132, had too many dimensions for the durable Meza. After comfortably outboxing Meza, 131.8, over the early rounds, Canal pressed on the gas in the last two and finally broke through with a straight right that dropped the Mexican native late in the sixth. All three judges were in agreement on the shutout, 60-53.

Mauricio Lara and former world champion Josh Warrington fought to a technical draw after a clash of heads opened up a cut over Lara’s left eye after two rounds at Headlingley Rugby Stadium in Leeds, England.

The fight was just starting to open up when the headbutt occurred. The fight was a rematch of a contest that saw Lara knockout Warrington in February.

Lara, 125 1/2 lbs of Mexico City is now 23-2-1. Warrington of Leeds, ENG is 30-1-1.

Taylor Decisions Han; Retains Undisputed Lightweight Title

Katie Taylor retained the undisputed Lightweight world championship with a 10-round unanimous decision over Jennifer Han.

In round eight, Taylor dropped Han with a left hook. Replays showed that it could have been a slip. Han also started to swell under her right eye in the round.

Taylor landed 93 of 340 punches; Han was 66 of 338.

Taylor, 134 3/4 lbs of Bray, IRE won by scores of 100-89 on all cards, and is now 19-0. Han, 134 1/4 lbs of El Paso, TEX is now 18-4-1-1.

Benn Decisions Granados

Conor Benn remained undefeated with a 10-round unanimous decision in a welterweight bout.

Benn landed 152 of 460 punches; Granados was 99 of 429.

Benn, 146 1/2 lbs of Brentwood, ENG won by scores of and is now 19-0. Granados, 146 1/2 lbs of Chicago, IL is 21-9-3.

Hughes Decisions Straffon

Maxi Hughes pounded out a 12-round unanimous decision over Jovanni Straffon in a lightweight bout.

Hughes hurt Straffon on several occasions including almost having him out in round four.

Hughes, 134 1/4 lbs of Rossington, ENG won by scores of 120-107 twice and 119-109 and is now 24-5-2. Straffon, 134 1/4 lbs of Mexico City, MEX is 24-4-1.

Bridges Decisions Gangloff

Ebanie Bridges won an eight-round decision over Mailys Gangloff in a bantamweight fight.

Bridges, 118 lbs of New South wales, AUS fought through a welled right eye and injured right hand but still won by a 77-76 score and is now 7-1. Gangloff, 116 lbs of Aix-les-Bains, FRA is 5-3.

Hope Price remained undefeated with a 2nd round stoppage of Zahid Hussain in a scheduled 10-round super bantamweight fight.

Just as the bell rang to end round one, Price landed a perfect right hook that clipped the jaw and sent Hussain on his backside. Fortunately for Hussain, he got to his feet to end the round. In round two, it was a combination that put Hussain down for a 2nd time. Price finished the fight with a barrage of punches that forced a referee stoppage at 2:33.

Price, 121 3/4 lbs of Leeds, ENG is 6-0 with two knockouts. Hussain, 121 lbs of Leeds, ENG is 16-2.

Jack Bateson survived a knockdown to win a six-round decision over Felix Garcia in a super bantamweight bout.

In round three, Garcia dropped Bateson with a looping right hand to the chest. Bateson was about to steady himself and win the rest of the fight.

Bateson, 124 lbs of Leeds, ENG won by a 58-56 score and is now 14-0. Garica, 123 lbs of Juigalpa, NIC is now 7-3-1.

Brandon Stansfield won a four-round decision over MJ Hall in a super welterweight bout.

Stansfield, 149 1/2 lbs of Leeds, ENG won by a 40-36 score and is now 2-0. Hall, 148 1/2 lbs of Brierley Hill, ENG is 2-62-2.

In round one, Hall began to bleed from his nose.

Mali Wright made a successful pro debut with a stoppage of Antony Woolery after round two of their scheduled four-round light heavyweight bout.

Wright, 180 bs of Chapeltown, England is 1-0 with one knockout. Woolery, 181 3/4 lbs of Wolverhampton, England is 2-7.

Maxi Hughes wants to keep his Cinderella story rolling as he challenges Jovanni Straffon for the IBO World Lightweight Title at Emerald Headingley Stadium in Leeds this Saturday September 4, shown live worldwide on DAZN.

Hughes (23-5-2, 5 KOs) has been in the form of his life through the pandemic, handing Jono Carroll defeat in August, travelling to Dubai two months later to take the WBC International Lightweight Title from Viktor Kotochigov and then realised a dream by landing the vacant British Title in March by stopping Paul Hyland Jr in Bolton to win the Lord Lonsdale belt at the third attempt.

The Doncaster man, who trains alongside main event star Josh Warrington under the guidance of Sean O’Hagan, now tackles a highly motivated Straffon for the IBO Title on the biggest stage of his career. The Mexican is familiar to UK fight fans after his stunning first round KO of James Tennyson to win the title in Manchester in May, but Hughes says he won’t allow his train to be delayed and wants victory tonight to stamp his ticket to a dream fight in America.

“I didn’t see this coming a year or 18 months ago,” said Hughes. “A year ago I was brought in as an opponent to keep Jono Carroll busy, now I am two titles up and fighting for a World Title, the Cinderella man. It cannot get better.

“You get older, wiser and mature as a person and that’s a part of the success too, and happiness of course. Things fall into place and if you want something bad enough, go and get it. I came close twice to walking away, losing to Sam Bowen was the first one and it was hard to swallow. I had a six-month break and got the hunger back, but when I lost to Liam Walsh I was gutted. It was a close fight but the right man won, and I just thought to myself ‘I am never going to be good enough to win these domestic fights’. The four-hour journey on the way home with Josh, Sean and Reece Mould, just talking about stuff, and then having a few days rest, I thought, ‘I will be good enough, I will get there, I will win something’.

“I’ve known Josh and Sean a long time, sparred with Josh for years and Sean has always been there as another voice and eyes in the corner. We we’re familiar with each other anyway but the link up came because I live in Wakefield and the gym is close by, with having a young daughter it made sense so that I don’t have so far to travel to the gym and I can spend more time at home with her. It makes me a better and happier fighter because the work and home life balance is great. We get on and have a laugh, and Sean has found a way to bring out the best in me, the results speak for themselves, it’s been three years now and we’re just getting better and better as a team, and we have everything we need to produce results. 

“I know James Tennyson, I’ve sparred many rounds with him, and I don’t think he was 100 per cent in there. We’ve seen him better than that but that doesn’t take away from Straffon. What you see is what you get from him, even if that fight hadn’t happened and his name came up to fight me, we wouldn’t have approached it differently. Mexicans are known for being tough and his record shows he’s a puncher. So, we’ve done our homework, prepared well and we’ll take it round by round and adapt. I just hope I come out with some credit, he looks a million dollars with the win over James so if I turn him over, I don’t want people to say ‘oh maybe he wasn’t that good’ because no one else is in a rush to fight him.”

Straffon vs. Hughes is part of a huge night of action in Leeds, Mauricio Lara (23-2, 16 KOs) and Josh Warrington (30-1, 7 KOs) face each other again in a huge rematch for the Featherweight division, Undisputed Lightweight ruler Katie Taylor (18-0, 6 KOs) defends her WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO and Ring Magazine crowns against her latest Mandatory Challenger Jennifer Han (18-3-1, 1 KOs), rising Welterweight star Conor Benn (18-0, 12 KOs) faces Adrian Granados (21-8-3, 15 KOs) after their Fight Camp Week 1 headliner fell through, Australia’s Ebanie Bridges (6-1, 3 KOs) looks to build on her impressive KO win over Bec Connolly at Fight Camp earlier this month when she meets Mailys Gangloff (5-2, 2 KOs), Super-Bantamweight prospect Hopey Price (5-0, 1 KO) steps up against Zahid Hussain (16-1, 2 KOs) in an all-Leeds clash, undefeated Super-Bantamweight talent Jack Bateson (13-0, 3 KOs) clashes with Felix Garcia (7-2-1, 3 KOs) over six rounds, 1-0 Super-Welterweight Brandon Stansfield takes on MJ Hall (2-61-2) and Light-Heavyweight Mali Wright makes his pro debut against Antony Woolery (2-6).

Limited remaining tickets are available from StubHub (www.stubhub.co.uk).

James Tennyson will face Jovanni Straffon for the vacant IBO Lightweight World Title on the undercard of Derek Chisora vs. Joseph Parker in Manchester on Saturday May 1, live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and on DAZN in all markets excluding the UK, Ireland, China, New Zealand and Samoa.
 
The hard-hitting Belfast man further enhanced his reputation as one of the most exciting contenders in the red hot 135lbs division by taking out Canada’s Josh O’Reilly in one round last time out on the Saunders vs. Murray undercard in December. 
 
‘The Assassin’, 27, produced a ferocious display before the WBA World Title Eliminator was stopped by referee Marcus McDonnell after two minutes and 14 seconds – Tennyson’s sixth straight stoppage win since moving up to Lightweight
 
Mexico’s Straffon (23-3-1, 16 KOs) has notched 23 wins since turning professional in December 2010, with 16 of those wins coming inside the distance for the 27-year-old southpaw from Torreon. ‘Impacto’ has lost just three times in 27 fights and has never been stopped. 
 
“Winning the IBO World Title will be a dream come true for me,” said Tennyson. “I have worked my whole life for this moment. This is my big opportunity to complete my collection of belts. I’ve won British, Commonwealth, European and two WBA Titles. All that’s missing is a World Title. 
 
“The other guys holding belts at Lightweight haven’t been putting their belts on the line against each other. Winning the IBO will hopefully dangle a carrot in front of the other World Champions and entice them into a big unification fight. I’m expecting a tough fight, Mexican’s are well known for their toughness. I’ll have to bring my A game.”
 
“I’ve been working hard for many years to get a fight like this,” said Straffon. “I will not waste it. I will go up in the ring thinking about my two little daughters and how I need to win this for them. Maybe if I win, Eddie Hearn will want to work with me and my team in the future.”
 
“I am delighted for James Tennyson to be given this World Title opportunity by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom,” said Mark Dunlop, Manager of Tennyson. “James is a role model to not only his community but every up and coming young boxer who has the same dream. His dedication to myself, his coach and Eddie Hearn is a lesson to all in the sport of professional boxing and he has been rewarded for that time and time again. He is fully aware Straffon is a dangerous opponent who is coming to take his shot at glory. This fight is only going to end in a shootout.”
 
“I’m very thankful to Eddie Hearn for giving us this opportunity and I’m delighted to be working with Mark Dunlop,” said Manuel Garrido, promoter of Straffon. “It is a very exciting fight, Straffon will go out there to give the fight of his life because this is the biggest opportunity he has been given in his career.”
 
Tennyson vs. Straffon is part of a huge night of action in Manchester, Derek Chisora (32-10, 23 KOs) and Joseph Parker (28-2, 21 KOs) collide in a huge Heavyweight clash, Irish star Katie Taylor (17-0, 6 KOs) defends her Undisputed Lightweight crown against former amateur rival Natasha Jonas (9-1-1, 7 KOs), undefeated WBA Light-Heavyweight World Champion Dmitry Bivol (17-0, 11 KOs) puts his Title on the line against Craig Richards (16-1-1, 9 KOs) and Chris Eubank Jr (29-2, 22 KOs) returns against Marcus Morrison (23-3, 16 KOs).