By Dan Ambrose: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says he will be pushing to set up a fight between Shakur Stevenson and the winner of the May 20th fight between undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney and Vasily Lomachenko.
Arum feels that the former two-division world champion Shakur (19-0, 9 KOs) has done enough since turning pro in 2017 for him to be worthy as the opponent for the Haney-Lomachenko winner.
It’s difficult to predict what Haney will do, though, as he’s not shown much interest in fighting Shakur. Haney says if he comes out victorious against Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) on May 20th, he wants to fight the winner of the April 22nd fight between Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Ryan Garcia.
It’s understandable why Haney would want to fight the Tank vs. Ryan winner because he can make a ton of money before he leaves the 135-lb division to move up to 140 or 147. Haney won’t make that kind of green fighting Shakur or anyone at light welterweight.
Before Arum can start pushing for Shakur to fight the Haney-Loma winner, he must take care of business against Shuichiro Yoshino (16-0, 12 KOs) next Saturday night, April 8th, on ESPN+ at the Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey.
Arum wants Shakur against Haney-Lomachenko winner
“The lightweight division is really loaded with good fighters, and the fight that I always wanted to see was either Haney or Loma against Shakur Stevenson,” said Bob Arum to Fight Hub TV.
“Again, [Ryan] Garcia and Tank Davis are terrific lightweights, and they’re in the mix. The kid that is waiting in the wings that has proven himself as so talented is Shakur.
“After this fight [Haney vs. Lomachenko], and if Shakur is successful. Shakur has been with us for years, so I’m going to push him as the opponent for the winner of this fight.
“I can’t say because these guys have their own agendas, and the timetable is really based on them. So, I’ll look at this fight and make plans for future fights after.
“They both want to win, they’re terrific fighters, and they’ll prepare accordingly,” said Arum about Haney and Lomachenko for their May 20th fight. “So, as a fight fan, I can’t wait to see this fight.
“How history is going to write this, I don’t know, but certainly it’s a big fight for each of them, and they’re treating it accordingly.
“Certainly, the situation in Ukraine has had an effect, and why wouldn’t it?” said Arum when asked if Lomachenko is starting to show signs of age. “He’s been asked to defend his country, and war is war, and his home is ten miles from Odessa, which has been bombed by the Russians. So that has to affect him.
“He’s been in uniform; he’s put a gun on so that always has to be on the back of his mind. How that is going to affect him now that he’s looking to become the unified lightweight champion, you’d have to ask him.
“I love Loma and think he’s a real Ukrainian patriot, and he’s going to give it all he can. You don’t know because he left Ukraine to do the fight and he came here, but his mind had to be back in Ukraine because he never knew when a missile would take out his home.
“Anybody in his place has to be under a strain based on what’s happening on the ground in his country,” Arum said about Lomachenko.
“I like [Gervonta] Davis. I think he’s a more complete fighter than [Ryan] Garcia, but Garcia seems to always be able to rise to the occasion. So I think it’s a terrific fight, but if I had to bet on the fight, I’d bet Tank Davis,” said Arum.
