By Adam Baskin: Shakur Stevenson says he will activate his WBC mandatory to force undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney to fight him next or surrender his belt.
Haney admitted after the fight last Saturday against Vasyl Lomachenko that his weight cut to 135 was the most difficult one he’s had and said he was thinking of moving up to 140.
Shakur (20-0, 10 KOs) believes that Haney will vacate his four 135-lb titles and move up to 140 rather than stay and lose them. That’s going to make Haney look bad if he vacates and moves up to 140 without fighting Shakur.
But I guess it’s better for Haney to give up the belts and preserve his ‘O’ than it would by stay at 135 and being reduced to rubble like Shakur did to his last opponent Shuichiro Yoshino.
If the still unbeaten Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) stays at 135, he’ll need to face Shakur unless his promoters at Top Rank can set up a fight against WBA ‘regular’ champion Gervonta Davis.
That’s the guy Haney said he wanted next at the post-fight press conference, but promoter Bob Arum would have to find a way for it to financially make sense. With the huge purse guarantees that Haney and Gervonta would probably want, it would be a huge financial risk for Arum.
Stevenson says Haney looked weak after his weight cut and laboring to a controversial decision over Vasyl Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs).
“Clean punches, good boxing, higher work rate. He looked like the old Lomachenko tonight,” said Shakur Stevenson to Fighthype about why he saw Vasyl Lomachenko as deserving the win against Devin Haney.
“He wasn’t landing them too clean. They weren’t real clean shots. Sometimes they was, but the majority of the fight it wasn’t,’ said Stevenson when asked why Haney’s body shots weren’t slowing Lomachenko down.
“I’m not going to s**t on him, but I felt that Lomachenko won the fight.
“I’m fighting the winner next. I mean, it depends on if he’s going to stay at 135 because I’m hearing that he’s going to go up,” said Shakur about his planning on using his WBC mandatory position to force a title shot against Haney if he chooses to stay at lightweight.
“I am [activating WBC mandatory to force title shot against Haney]. I heard him a lot about him staying at 135, so that’s the only problems that I have of the weight problems.
“It’s not enough because, like I said, he’s got to cut all that weight. He looked a little weak in there. He didn’t look too strong. Whatever he do, he can’t f**k with me,” said Shakur when asked if Haney has great skills like him, why isn’t it enough for him to beat him.
“I haven’t had too much conversation with him, but we’re going to talk,” said Shakur when asked about what his promoter Bob Arum has to say about all this. “I don’t have nothing bad to say about Bob. I’m just staying focused on the main goal.
“I think y’all know. I ain’t going to tell you. That’s between them,” said Stevenson on who wins between Haney and Gervonta Davis. “Anybody can get it. I think me and Lomachenko would be a really good fight. Lomachenko looked like the old Lomachenko tonight. So I would definitely be down to fight Lomachenko.
“It’s kind of weird, especially because Devin has lived in Vegas most of his life. It is a little bit weird, but I don’t know what’s up with the fans,” said Shakur when asked if h thought it was straight that Haney was booed by the fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena last night after his fight.
“I just felt like I was the better fighter. I feel like I’m the best fighter in boxing, and I stand on that. I’m not just saying that for the fans or the media. That’s something I actually believe,” said Shakur when asked about his sparring with Haney.
“I just stood next to him [Haney], and he’s not that much bigger than me. I’m right there in size. Lomachenko is a lot smaller than him, but I’m right there in size for sure,” said Shakur.
