Shakur Stevenson Can’t Stop Thinking About Devin Haney, Terms Still Don’t Match

Shakur Stevenson has spent the past week discussing a potential bout with Devin Haney, floating the idea of a 144-pound catchweight and rejecting any move to the full welterweight limit. Stevenson has also said he has no interest in jumping to 147 pounds for a fight like this, citing the natural size difference.

WBC light welterweight champion Stevenson appears to be fixated on the idea of the Haney fight, but he’s essentially built a weight wall around it. He wants the glory of beating Haney without the risk of fighting a fully hydrated welterweight. Until he’s willing to actually move up to 147 without strings attached, he’s likely going to keep posting these “it’s on my mind” messages while his career stays in neutral.

Shakur tried to pull the same move with Conor Benn that he’s trying with Haney, demanding a rehydration clause or a lower weight because he’s “the smaller man.” Benn basically laughed it off, especially after his win over Regis Prograis, and made it clear he isn’t shrinking himself down just to give Shakur a comfort zone. Since Shakur won’t budge on the weight, that fight is dead in the water.

The Ryan Garcia situation is even more telling. Ryan actually called Shakur out after beating Mario Barrios to become the WBC welterweight champ, literally saying, “Let’s go, that’s the biggest fight right here.” But Shakur’s reaction was lukewarm at best. He made a joke about Ryan’s size and hasn’t seriously pursued it. It seems like Shakur is only interested in fights where he can dictate the physical terms, and Ryan isn’t going to play that game.