Shakur Stevenson snaps at Devin Haney speculation that the two are fighting next up in a passionate retort on social media and more.
It is a great fight in paper and in theory between the two.
But despite many saying there are talks for it, Stevenson has categorically denied this on X saying:
“I know fans like to get excited and they could play with yall heads and manipulate yall easily but that rumor (Haney fight) is cap for the 2nd time.. I haven’t heard one word about that, idk what they tryna cover up or disguise but for me and my team we haven’t heard s***”
That doesn’t mean the fight won’t happen but it suggests that talks are not actually real at this point.
There’s many good fights being talked about at the moment and Stevenson as a new pound for pound rated champion is of course among them.
The Gervonta Davis fight remains the biggest one by far for Stevenson by a country mile.
A Lamont Roach fight is also a great fight as well though.
As for Haney, Stevenson and Haney are familiar with one another.
Here are 10 lesser-known facts about Devin Haney & Shakur Stevenson’s history — they go way back before all the belts:
How they met & early years
- 1. Childhood sparring partners: They first sparred when Haney was 16 and Shakur was 17, years before either was famous. Haney says it was “back and forth” – times Shakur got the better of him, times he got the better of Shakur.
- 2. Shakur’s long-time sparring with elites: Stevenson said he’s “been sparring Terence Crawford my whole career” and loves being in with the best, which included Haney early on.
- 3. Haney’s take on kid sparring: Haney downplays it: “What we did when we were kids has nothing to do with us now… there were a lot of guys who got the best of me when we were kids and look where they are now.”
Paths crossing as pros
- 4. Stevenson was Haney’s WBC mandatory: In July 2023, WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán confirmed Stevenson was Haney’s mandatory at 135 lbs and gave Haney a deadline to either defend vs Shakur or move to 140.
- 5. 50-50 purse split push: Stevenson’s team formally asked the WBC to enforce the mandatory and pushed for a 50-50 purse split if it went to purse bid.
- 6. Ring face-off: After Haney beat Vasiliy Lomachenko in May 2023, Stevenson got in the ring for a staredown. Stevenson was coming off a KO of Shuichiro Yoshino to establish himself as top contender.
Public beef & respect
- 7. Leaked video of Bill Haney: In Aug 2023, video surfaced of Haney’s dad Bill seemingly downplaying Devin’s chances vs Shakur, saying “if it’s too hot at 30, we already ready to go to 40.” That sparked trash talk between Shakur and Devin on Twitter.
- 8. Haney says Shakur “calls my name but don’t fight nobody”: Haney criticized Shakur for calling him out, then fighting Zaur Abdullaev — a guy Haney already beat — instead of rematching De Los Santos after a “bad performance.”
- 9. Shakur studies Haney closely: After Haney’s loss to Ryan Garcia, Stevenson said he was “interested” and wanted to see how Haney handles “that traumatic experience” and if he’s “the same fighter.”
What never happened… yet
- 10. Fight never materialized at 135: Despite Stevenson becoming mandatory and both being top-10 P4P, Haney chose to move up to 140 to fight Regis Prograis in Oct 2023 instead of defending vs Shakur.
Bonus: They’ve gone from teen sparring partners to rivals who admit they want to prove who’s better but business/weight moves keep them apart.
Shakur said “I think people know how good I am… a lot of people don’t want to fight me unless it’s forced.”
