By Adam Baskin: Shakur Stevenson says he doesn’t think Devin Haney will return to the lightweight division to fight him once he captures the vacant WBC lightweight title.
Shakur doesn’t understand why Haney is faking like he’s going to return to the 135-lb division after he challenges WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis for his title.
It’s pretty easy to understand Haney’s goal by telling the media & the fans that he’ll be returning to the lightweight division to claim his WBC title.
He’s being a politician by saving face because it plays well to his fan base, as that’s what they want to hear from him. The reality is a different story.
Devin chasing the big cash
Haney will stay at 140, and if he wins the WBC belt from the aging 35-year-old Prograis, he’ll immediately set up a unification fight with WBO champion Teofimo Lopez.
By then, no one will care that Haney isn’t returning to the lightweight division because they’ll be so excited bout him fighting Teofimo.
If Shakur thinks that Haney will confess to the fans & media that he’s afraid to return to 135 because he’s worried about getting beaten, he’s naive. No fighter would admit that especially not a slick, calculated politician type like Haney.
If Shakur (20-0, 10 KOs) wants Haney, he’s going to have to move up to 140 because that’s the only way to fight him. Staying at 135 is a dead end for Stevenson anyway because he’s going to be avoided like the plague by these guys:
- Gervonta Davis
- Isaac Cruz
- William Zepeda
- George Kambosos Jr
- Vasily Lomachenko
Stevenson dares Haney to return to 135
“I never heard of that s**t. I don’t know what that is. Basically, they’re [WBC] saying that the title is vacated, and I’m going to fight for the vacant belt, but him being ‘Champion in Recess,’ after I win thee vacant [135-lb] belt, he gets the opportunity to come back down and fight me,” said Shakur Stevenson to Fighthype about Devin Haney being stripped of his WBC lightweight title by the World Boxing Council and given the ‘Champion in Recess’ tag due to his decision to move up to light welterweight and challenge Regis Prograis for hi WBC 140-lb title in October.
“He keeps putting out a rumor that he’s going to come back down in weight. I don’t know why he’s doing that fake. If you can’t make the weight, just say you can’t make the weight, then that’s what it is. If you don’t want to fight me when you’re down in weight, why not say that?
“I don’t know why he keeps acting like he’s coming to come back down after the [Prograis] fight. I dare him to come back down,” said Shakur about Haney.
“If I get the Lomachenko fight, I’m going in there to dominate. I’m not going to go in there and keep the fight close just so I can get a fight with Devin. I’m not doing that. I’m going in there to put on a show and be myself. After I do what I do, I don’t see him jumping back down in weight.
“They pay a lot of money. They [WBC] said it would be 50-50 if he [Haney]] comes back down. He’s got a great team behind him. They’re going to make it look better than what it truly is.
“I don’t think he’s scared. I don’t think he’s truly scared because he box; he’s a fighter. So I’m not going to say he’s truly scared, but what I will say is he should have come out and said that he’s not comfortable fighting me at the weight.
“If he had said that he’s not comfortable fighting me at 135, and he knows I’m a hell of a fighter. I would respect that because that makes more sense. But while I’m fighting, I’m hearing people sending text messages to ESPN saying that they’re staying at 135.
“That s**t shouldn’t have to happen if you’re about that life. I don’t even know why you’re pump-faking like you’re going to come back down to 135. I don’t like that s**t either.
“I don’t even want to speak no more about that s**t. I’m locked in and focused. People can say what they want about me. I don’t give a f**k. Let’s just make the biggest fights happen. That’s all I’m here for,” said Stevenson.
Shakur says Devin is playing games
“I’m just tired of all this s**t. I’ve been hearing so much s**t, and it’s crazy. You can’t put me and ‘duck’ in the same sentence,” said Stevenson. “I’ll fight anybody, but you’re not going to play me. Nobody is going to play me and say this is what I got to do. You’re not going to play me.”
Again, Haney isn’t going to admit that he’s shivering in fear of returning to the lightweight division to fight Stevenson, even if it is true. He’s not going to tell his fans that and watch them disappear.
“I’m a hell of a fighter, I sell out arenas, and I get a lot of views when I fight. When you look at the viewership, I get a lot of views. Y’all can’t play me. Y’all not going to play me. I’m a hell of a fighter, and I’m going to be who I am.
“They’re going to come up with excuses just the same they do with Bud. We’re never going to get our credit until we’re done with this,” said Shakur when asked if he’ll receive credit if he beats Vasily Lomachenko. “We’re never going to get the credit we deserve until we’re finished boxing.
“After I beat Lomachenko, they’re going to say, ‘Oh, he was washed up’ or “He was old” or something. So then I got to go beat somebody else, and then when I beat somebody else. It’ll be something else to it.
“The same thing that I seen them do with Bud [after his win over Errol Spence], they’re going to try to do to me.
“I already see how this is going. I don’t care. I’m still going to remain me, and I’m going to be ready for when the time comes. I’m going to be fully prepared for whoever and whatever,” said Shakur.
