Haney Has Until July 21st To Decide His Next Move, Canelo Vs. Benavidez Won’t Happen Until 2024

Devin Haney has been given until July 21st, 2023, to decide if he will fight Shakur Stevenson or face Regis Prograis. 

That is according to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. The undisputed lightweight champion’s future has been up in the air ever since his win over Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Haney is faced with the prospect of staying at 135 lbs and fighting his WBC mandatory Shakur Stevenson who is seeking to enforce his position, having contacted the organization.  

This was in response to a 25 percent offer from Haney which was knocked back. In addition, Haney was linked with fighting Teofimo Lopez for his WBO junior welterweight title.

The pair had a recent back-and-forth on social media, raising the possibility of a bout. And yet, Eddie Hearn dismissed those suggestions by stating that an offer had been made to fight Prograis for his WBC title.

As such, Haney responded to Prograis’ desire to make the fight happen.

October https://t.co/A81mkNJGcp

— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) July 17, 2023

With that being said, Mauricio Sulaiman set a firm deadline for Haney to decide how he will proceed moving forward. 

“Friday, July 21st is the deadline for Haney to decide if he’s fighting Prograis or if he’s going to stay in the lightweight division. No [voluntary]. Shakur Stevenson is the mandatory in the lightweight division,” Sulaiman 

Canelo Vs. Benavidez

Much in the same way, Mauricio Sulaiman has confirmed that the WBC will not consider a fight between WBC mandatory David Benavidez and Canelo Alvarez until May 2024. 

Benavidez is the current interim champion having beaten Caleb Plant, as he seeks a title shot against the undisputed super-middleweight champion.

However, the attempts to get the fight made have been problematic. Benavidez’s team claimed that an offer was sent to Eddy Reynoso only for that to go unacknowledged.

Since then Canelo has moved on to face Jermell Charlo on September 30th, 2023. However, Alvarez did leave the door open for a fight with Benavidez at some point. 

And given Canelo’s three-fight deal includes possible fights on Cinco de Mayo weekend and Mexican Independence Day, a Benavidez fight could be penciled in. And by the looks of it, the WBC has hinted the same. 

“Benavidez defeated Plant in March of this year, so the date for his mandatory position is March 2024. [However] yeah, they can fight any time,” Sulaiman