Las Vegas boxing prospect Devin Haney wins by TKO

The whispers could be heard at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center about the local boxing prospect drawing comparisons to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Boxing spectators filled the outdoor venue Saturday night to find out if 17-year-old Devin Haney is the real deal.

Haney turned them into believers after recording a fourth-round technical knockout against Jairo Vargas on the Knockout Night at the D card.

The Las Vegan unleashed a fury of punches to the body and head to drop Vargas and force the referee to stop the fight at the 1:34 mark of the fourth round.

“I asked my dad what round it was because I knew I was going to get him,” Haney said. “He came out aggressive, I wanted him to do that, so I started setting him up, hitting the body, and then I threw a nice body-to-head combination.”

Haney (6-0, four knockouts) generated buzz after making his U.S. debut in April during the Timothy Bradley-Manny Pacquiao undercard at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The top prospect’s first four professional fights were in Mexico.

Haney’s youth has led to many firsts. He’s the youngest boxer to have a fight nationally televised, with Saturday’s bout being shown on CBS Sports Network.

Haney is also the youngest boxer to fight at the MGM Grand.

“Both fights in my hometown have been great,” Haney said. “I enjoyed fighting outdoors. It felt great.”

Haney, trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr., displayed his full arsenal by setting the pace with a powerful left jab and a vicious right uppercut.

The 28-year-old Vargas (4-1, three KOs) had the age advantage and tried to fluster Haney by pulling him close during exchanges. But none of that mattered.

“He was doing his best to fight dirty,” Haney said. “I could tell it was his game plan, he was going to come in and try to smother me and try to make the fight dirty. But I knew he was getting tired.”

Haney, whose alias is “The Dream,” was born in Oakland, California, and moved to Las Vegas at age 7. He’s been home schooled and is only a junior in high school.

Haney’s next fight could be another milestone. He said he hopes to fight on the pay-per-view portion of the Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol card in July at the MGM Grand Garden.

In the main event, Andrew Hernandez (12-4-1, three KOs) pulled off an upset by defeating Arif Magomedov (17-1, 10 KOs) by unanimous decision (100-89, 100-89, 98-91). Magomedov was considered a top contender in the middleweight division.

Las Vegan Jeremy Nichols was a unanimous decision winner (40-36, 40-36, 39-37) over Julio Santos in the card’s opener.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow him on Twitter:@gmanzano24