Regis Prograis adamantly believes there is only one way that Devin Haney can beat him—and it doesn’t involve a stoppage.

The WBC 140-pound titlist from New Orleans insists that Haney simply lacks the power to make it a short night when they meet on Dec. 9 at Chase Center in San Francisco. The fight will mark Haney’s debut as a junior welterweight.

In a recent interview Prograis, a proven puncher at 140, explained how laughable the notion is that Haney can hurt him over 12 rounds, much less knock him out.

“He had four good fights,” Prograis said of his adversary in an interview with ESNews. “He fought [Vasiliy] Loma[chenko], he fought [Joseph] Jojo [Diaz], he fought [Jose] Linares, and he fought [George] Kambosos two times, right.

“Did he beat the f--- out of them? No. Did he knock them out? No. So how the f--- you think you’re gonna beat the f--- out of me? That’s not happening, bro. I’mma beat the f---out of you. I’m bigger, stronger, faster than you, everything. My defense—everything is better than you.

“He gotta play the long game. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m ready for 12 rounds. I’mma beat the f--- out of him for 12 rounds. As long as that sh!t lasts. But him, he gotta last 12 rounds because he ain’t got no knockout power. I can knock n----- the f--- out whenever the f--- I want. If you really look at my resume, I really beat the f--- out of n-----. If you look at championship fights, look at how many knockouts I got in championship fights. Look at his thing. The people, the fans they get hyped up over Haney’s name is bigger. That’s cool.”

Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) won his WBC 140-pound belt last year with an 11th-round stoppage of Jose Zepeda. He struggled in his last fight, in June, against Danielito Zorrilla, winning a split decision.

Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) is coming off a unanimous decision over Vasiliy Lomachekno, in May, in a defense of his four 135-pound belts.

Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.