Shakur Stevenson is open to facing Devin Haney at junior welterweight following the latter’s decision to move up.
The decision came after Stevenson sought to enforce his position as the WBC mandatory. And with Haney moving up, the ‘Dream’ became a champion in recess for the WBC belt at 135 after being stripped. Thereafter, Stevenson was ordered to face Edwin De Los Santos on November 16th, 2023, for the vacant title. However, Shakur was willing to move up to 140 for Haney, given that the latter is unlikely to move back down since the boxer is a lot bigger than the 135-pound weight class.
“I believe in myself wholeheartedly. It don’t matter because I will stand on what I’m saying. I wouldn’t mind fighting at 140, but let me get my feet wet at 135 and keep feeling the division out…If it makes sense [with Haney], we can get something going,” Stevenson
In addition, Stevenson is also confident about the prospect of facing Gervonta Davis. Both boxers remain the two biggest names in the 135-pound division, while also being undefeated, as the desire to see the fight happen continues to increase. Despite this being the case, Davis’ trainer, Calvin Ford, downplayed the prospect of a fight on the basis that the bout did not make sense from a financial point of view. Meanwhile, Shakur has admitted that Davis holds all the cards when it comes to making offers since the latter is the cash cow in the sport. However, moving forward, Stevenson felt it was only a matter of time before they fought.
“I feel like he’ll fight me. With Devin, I disagree with you when you say he’s going to go up to 147. I think he’s going to be at 140 for a long time. Even if he got bigger and the weight was hard to make, he wouldn’t want to fight those dudes at 147,” Stevenson