Victor Conte Defends ‘Weight Bully’ Devin Haney – ‘Get Him Out Of The Sport’
Victor Conte has defended Devin Haney following claims that the fighter is a weight bully.
The accusations stem from Haney’s fight with Regis Prograis last December. Haney won every round to become the WBC Junior Welterweight Champion. However, there is much controversy about Haney’s weight on fight night. He weighed in at the 140 limit, but came in at 165 pounds on fight night, rehydrating to 18 percent.
Prograis was very vocal about this, stating he only knew about Haney’s weight when he got home. Prograis also stated that the California State Athletic Commission issued a rule in 2019 stopping boxers from rehydrating over 15 per cent. If a boxer broke those rules, the commission would cancel any fight. Prograis demanded that he get his belt back with a rematch.
Prograis On Haney
“On the fight night, you don’t know nothing about that. When I was in California, I didn’t know nothing about it. I let it go. Since y’all said it, I have to look into it. “Yes [I want the belt back]. Boxing is so corrupt. I know in my fight with Devin, he was over. In California, you have different rules. You’re not supposed to be a certain weight over the limit. You’re not supposed to be over a certain weight. Devin was over that certain weight. So, literally, that fight wasn’t supposed to happen, and literally, you can’t do that, and it was. That’s the case,” Prograis said
“I don’t need no type of apology [from Hearn]. I’m still with Matchroom and don’t expect Eddie to side with me. I told him a long time ago that Devin was his boy. But I’m just going to run through that stable. It’s cool. It’s all coming out now, and I don’t really have to say too much about it. Everybody knows what happened,” Prograis stated
Nevertheless, Conte has lept to Haney’s defense. The two have a good working relationship since Haney participates in Conte’s SNAC program. Conte addressed the questions about the weight, saying there are many reasons why a fighter may come in heavy. He noted how some fighters wear trousers and carry things inside their pockets. That extra weight would then give a false impression of how much a fighter weighed.
Conte stopped short of saying Haney had things in his pocket. But it does raise a wider question. Fighters should box near their weight class, as ballooning up in weight and then losing it for a camp is not the best way to increase longevity. It also means that fighters will get exposed once they fight someone near the same size.
Conte Responds
Haney discovered this when he boxed Ryan Garcia. Garcia was arguably the first fighter near the same size as Haney. Garcia dropped him three times on his way to a majority decision win. While the result could be overturned following Garcia’s failed tests for Ostarine, Haney did look out of sorts when he came up against someone of a similar stature to him. But Conte has now come out to defend Haney, shutting down claims he is a weight bully.
“Enough ignorant tallk about @Realdevinhaney coming in 25 lbs over for the @RPrograis fight. Understand on fight night when boxers briefly step on the scale they have long sleeve shirts, pants & shoes on w/ who knows what all in their pockets. These weights are NOT precise,” Conte revealed
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