Shakur, Haney, Lomachenko And More: What’s Next For The Boxers?
Bob Arum has laid out a plan for Shakur Stevenson to compete against the victor of the upcoming fight between Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko on May 20th, 2023, for the undisputed lightweight championship title.
Stevenson, a 19-0 professional fighter with 9 knockouts (KOs) to his name, must come out victorious against the unbeaten 135-lb prospect Shuichiro Yoshino (16-0, 12 KOs) at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, USA.
Even if Shakur were to come out on top, Arum has indicated that Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) could opt to relinquish his four lightweight titles if he triumphs over Lomachenko.
According to Arum, if Haney decides to go up to the 140-pound division, then Lomachenko and Shakur will battle for one of the lightweight titles, as it looks increasingly likely that Haney has outgrown the division.
In an interview with iD Boxing, Arum said: “You know what we think about Shakur and that he’s on the pound-for-pound list as one of the great fighters today. So if Shakur beats the Japanese, and it’s going to be a tough fight, then are plan would be to match Shakur against the winner of Haney-Lomachenko. That’s another massive fight.
“Yeah, the plan is to have him fight the Haney-Loma winner. If Haney wins, he’s talking about going to 140. So that makes a vacant title for Shakur. But if Loma wins, that’s a fight between Loma and Shakur that I would pay all kinds of money to watch. That’s really an unbelievable fight.”
Jaron Ennis v Errol Spence Jr
As for the welterweight division, there could be some big plans for Jaron Ennis too. His promoter, Cameron Dunkin, is convinced that the boxer will finally become a world champion this summer.
The 25-year-old welterweight from Philadelphia won the IBF interim title after a victorious match against Karen Chukhadzhian at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C.
The victory essentially got Ennis a chance to fight Errol Spence Jr, who has the IBF, WBA and WBC 147-pound belts.
Dunkin claims that Ennis will become a full champion without having to engage in a fight as he believes Spence is planning to vacate.
Jaron Ennis Promoter Expects Spence to Vacate IBF Title, Ennis to Become Full Champion By Summer https://t.co/XMiQbTvdws pic.twitter.com/BdfKJiwpYY
— BoxingScene.com (@boxingscene) February 17, 2023
It is expected that Spence will engage in a junior middleweight bout against Keith Thurman without having to relinquish any of his titles, and yet, there is a question of whether Spence could then come back down to 147.
In his comments to BoxingScene.com, Dunkin said: “Boots is the interim champion now. Spence, he’s obligated to fight him in 90 days. So, we’re gonna fight for the title, and then [the question will be] will be, does he (Spence) want to fight.’
“And [the answer is], no, he will vacate [his belt], and Boots will automatically become regular champion , and we’ll defend our title probably in June. No, (he won’t fight Ennis), no. I think he’s going to ’54. I don’t think they want Boots at all.”