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In a surprising turn of events, Shakur Stevenson received a post-fight message from Devin Haney during his bout against Shuichiro Yoshino at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna delivered the message from Haney, who insisted that he will remain in the lightweight division following his upcoming fight against Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Stevenson, who became the WBC’s mandatory challenger for one of Haney’s four titles after defeating Yoshino in the main event of the ESPN broadcast, was surprised by Haney’s message.
While Stevenson thinks that Haney will beat Lomachenko convincingly next month, he thought that Haney would give up his four lightweight titles and move up to the 140-pound division for his next fight.
However, Haney’s insistence on staying in the lightweight division has sparked interest in a potential fight between the two unbeaten American lightweights.
Stevenson hopes that Haney means what he says, as he would prefer to fight for all of the IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO 135-pound championships in one fight, not just the WBC belt.
Stevenson, who has a record of 20-0 with 10 knockouts, believes that a fight against Haney would be a fascinating bout between two of the best lightweights in the world.
With Haney holding four titles in the division and Stevenson now the mandatory challenger for one of those titles, a potential fight between the two could be a unification bout for all of the lightweight championships.
As both fighters continue to dominate in the lightweight division, fans eagerly await the possibility of a matchup between Stevenson and Haney.
Only time will tell if Haney will follow through on his promise to stay in the division and potentially face Stevenson in what could be a historic fight.