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Devin Haney Hints At Next Opponent: “I Called About Making The Fight”

Written by Kerr Ferguson on 27th May 2023.

Devin Haney

After a second successful defence of his lightweight undisputed title, talk has turned to what Devin Haney does next.

The 24-year-old survived the toughest test of his career so far in Vasiliy Lomachenko, winning via a unanimous decision that many in the sport feel was too hard on the Ukrainian.

The record shows a win for Haney though, and his next steps need to be considered. While plenty are calling for a rematch with Loma, others would like to see him in with two-weight world champion and recent addition to the division, Shakur Stevenson.

Stevenson has had just one fight at 135lbs – a stoppage win over Shuichiro Yoshino – and was made mandatory by the WBC for a shot at Haney’s belt immediately after.

Whilst the champion has said it’s one of two fights at his current weight he’s interested in – the other being Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis – he’s never far from rumours of moving up to 140lbs.

There’s no question or denial that Haney is tight at 135, and his progression is inevitable. It may now happen sooner than fans think, with a recent back and forth on Twitter with one Regis Prograis.

The New Orleans native offered Haney ringside tickets for his upcoming hometown fight against Danielito Zorrilla – the first defence of his WBC Super Lightweight belt.

Haney said he would consider it before telling fans that ‘for the record’ he had called promoter Eddie Hearn about the fight.

Much of what the undisputed champion does depends on who he signs with next. A three-fight deal with Top Rank is up now, and Hearn has been very clear in that he would offer the Prograis fight to Haney should he re-sign with him.

Top Rank, on the other hand, have Stevenson. That, or the Lomachenko rematch would be the one to make. If Haney went with someone entirely new like PBC, he might fancy the ‘Tank’ fight.