By Chris Williams: Shakur Stevenson sent Devin Haney a message last weekend while the two were attending a party, telling him that he wants him to put pen to paper to sign the contract for a fight between them.
This move by Shakur makes Haney look like he’s a ducker because this is a fight that the boxing world wants to see, and it would increase his popularity hugely, taking his stardom to another level. Haney looks scared of Shakur, which is bad for his career.
“Sign the contract,” said Shakur Stevenson in a message to Devin Haney at the party.
Haney seems like he’s not interested in fighting Shakur, which is why he’s talking about moving up to 140 to fight one of the top guys in that weight class.
It’s bad that Haney is fleeing the 135-lb division without fighting Shakur & Gervonta Davis because it solidifies the belief in the eyes of the public that he doesn’t want any of that smoke because he lacks confidence in himself.
Devin’s dad, Bill Haney, was ringside for the Josh Taylor vs. Teofimo Lopez fight last Saturday night to scout. If not for Teofimo announcing his retirement afteer the contest, Bill might have been trying to set up a match against him.
There’s the possibility that Haney could fight WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis next, but that’s hard to believe because it would be a dangerous fight for him. The money wouldn’t match what he could get for a fight against Ryan Garcia or Teofimo.
With that said, there’s no word whether the promoters for the former two-division world champion Stevenson have sent a contract offer to undisputed lightweight champion Haney (30-0, 15 KOs).
Haney’s contract with Top Rank expired with his last fight against Vasily Lomachenko on May 6th, and the company’s CEO, Bob Arum, says he’d like to set up a match against Shakur.
Shakur (20-0, 10 KOs) tried to call out Haney after his fight against Lomachenko, and he entered the ring afterward. Haney watched Shakur enter the ring, taking off immediately, spoiling Stevenson’s attempt to call him out.
The way Haney has acted, one could conclude that he won’t fight Shakur Stevenson next. With the hard time that Haney had against 35-year-old Lomachenko, he’s focusing on a cash-out type of fight in which he gets a massive payday against someone he’ll lose to.
Shakur is the WBC mandatory challenger for Haney after stopping Shuichiro Yoshino in the sixth round in a lightweight title eliminator on April 8th in Newark, New Jersey.
