Devin Haney didn’t want to take a safe fight in his debut at the junior welterweight limit.

The undefeated, undisputed lightweight champion embraced the powerful southpaw that he believes is the most formidable fighter in the 140-pound division. Haney has opened as more than a 3-1 favorite over Regis Prograis, according to most sportsbooks, but Prograis is a two-time 140-pound champion who has lost only a 12-round majority decision to former fully unified champ Josh Taylor.

The 34-year-old Prograis has also won 80 percent of his professional bouts by knockout (29-1, 24 KOs) and appears to be the most dangerous puncher Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) will have fought since he made his pro debut in December 2015. Haney explained why he felt the need to move up in weight for his next fight and why he insisted on opposing Prograis during a recent interview with BoxingScene.com.

“I feel like it’s the right time for me to move up,” Haney said. “Every fight, you know, comes with its challenges. But my body was just – it was hard to make 135. I wanna see how I feel at 140. Obviously, I still have the belts at 135. You know, it’s still big fights at 135.

“But right now, it’s a chance for me to become a two-division champ at 140. No matter who it was, you know, I was willing to fight whoever at 140. You know, Regis stepped up to the plate. And I feel like Regis is also the best guy at 140. So, I’m happy I’m going into my first fight at 140 against the guy I feel like is the best at 140.”

The 24-year-old Haney has retained the IBF, WBA and WBO lightweight titles he successfully defended when he beat Vasiliy Lomachenko by unanimous decision in his last fight – a closely contested 12-rounder May 20 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The WBC has downgraded Haney to its lightweight champion in recess, which at least affords him the flexibility to fight for the WBC belt if the Henderson, Nevada resident returns to the lightweight limit of 135 pounds for another fight.

Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs), a two-division champion from Newark, New Jersey, and Dominican southpaw Edwin De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KOs) are scheduled to fight for the vacant WBC lightweight title November 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Prograis, meanwhile, wants to atone for what even he considers a subpar performance June 17 at Smoothie King Center in his hometown of New Orleans. The 34-year-old Prograis, of Katy, Texas, beat Puerto Rico’s Danielito Zorrilla (17-2, 13 KOs) by split decision, though he dropped Zorrilla in the third round and won by large margins on two scorecards (118-109, 117-110, 113-114).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.