Shakur Stevenson wants Gervonta – Ryan or Haney – Lomachenko winner

By Boxing News - 04/04/2023 - Comments

By Matt Lieberman: Shakur Stevenson is already looking beyond his fight this Saturday night against Shuichiro Yoshino towards wanting the winner of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Ryan Garcia or Devin Haney vs. Vasily Lomachenko.

In both cases, Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) sees advantages in fighting the winner of either fight. The issue with Shakur fighting the hulking undisputed lightweight champion Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) would seem obvious.

With Haney reportedly rehydrating to close to 160 for his fights at lightweight, Stevenson would be giving away a lot of weight for a match against him.

If Haney moves up to the 140-lb division after his May 20th fight against Lomachenko, does Shakur follow him or stay at home at 135 to face guys his own size, more or less?

The money fight for Haney would be against the Tank Davis vs. Ryan Garcia winner. However, it would be easier said than done for Shakur to get a shot at the winner of that fight.

Both fighters are on different platforms than Stevenson, and their management will likely want to set up an immediate rematch rather than letting them move on and take a risky fight against someone like Shakur.

Stevenson is headlining against Yoshino (16-0, 12 KOs) this Saturday, April 8th, in a twelve-round fight at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The event will be live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.

“I don’t know. It depends on him. The ball is in Devin’s court,” said Shakur Stevenson to Fighthype when asked if he sees himself fighting Devin Haney someday. “That’s a question you can ask Devin. Is he staying at 135? Is he going up? Yeah, he’s got the belts.

“It’s torn between the two. I would fight him. I’d fight the winner out of either one of those fights,” said Haney about his wanting to fight the winner of Haney vs. Vasily Lomachenko or Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Ryan Garcia.

“I would love to fight the winner out of both of those fights because one, it’s going to be undisputed [Haney-Lomachenko winner], and one, it’s going to probably be the biggest star in boxing [Tank-Ryan]. So, I would love to fight either one.

“I think it would definitely be an entertaining fight because the skill level is at a high level,” said Shakur on what a fight between him and Haney would be like. “When we sparred, you can go back and watch it.

“Devin was more of a come-forward fighter, and I was more of the boxer. The rolls may be reversed, or they may be the same; who knows?  It depends on how he approaches the situation.

“The business side of me would say that Tank & Ryan fighting would be more for the business side of me because whoever wins that fight is going to be a star. They’re already a star, but they’ll probably be the biggest star in boxing nine times out of ten.

“Being that they’re the biggest star in boxing, if I can go fight the biggest star in boxing and beat them, that’s going to take me to a whole another level, especially with the pay-per-view and the promotion.

“I could sell and do what it takes to sell a fight and then back it up also. I think the business side of me would say, ‘Yeah,’ but the champion side of me would be more like, ‘Okay, I want the belts and it would be better for my legacy and all that kind of stuff. It’s still something for me and my team to think of.

“Regardless of what the other fighters are doing, I’m staying at 135. I’m damn near 130-pounder. I’m little for the weight class. I’m no big 135, so I’m not about to jump up to 140 and chasing money and doing things that are better for other fighters when I could be fighting at my natural weight class,” said Shakur.

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