NEW YORK — Unbeaten pound-for-pound standouts Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney are in “advanced discussions” for a welterweight title showdown, a connected official told BoxingScene, in an unexpected clash of multiple-division champions.
Four-division champion Stevenson, 25-0 (11 KOs), and current WBO welterweight champion Haney, 33-0 (15 KOs), have traded weight demands on social media as negotiations continue. Haney, 27, wants the fight at 147 pounds with no rehydration clause after debuting at 140 pounds with a January 31 victory over Teofimo Lopez to win the WBO title, while the 29-year-old Stevenson has countered with a 144-pound limit. “Let’s scrap the online negotiations. Let’s drop our nuts in front of the world and make the biggest and best fight in boxing,” Stevenson wrote on X in the past 24 hours.
Stevenson, promoted by Zuffa Boxing, turned toward Haney after talks collapsed for a December 11 co-main event against Manny Pacquiao underneath the Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury heavyweight main event in Cardiff, Wales. An official explained that “two eight-figure fighters” proved too expensive to fund for the already costly Netflix card. Haney, a three-division champion, had previously been linked to IBF welterweight champion Liam Paro before this opportunity emerged.
Stevenson was also in talks with WBA 140-pound champion Gary Antuanne Russell, but Russell’s brother-trainer Gary Russell Jr. said the offer was less than $2 million. A Stevenson-Haney meeting would mark the Newark, New Jersey, fighter’s debut bout for Zuffa. BoxingScene was recently told Haney was eyeing a November 28 bout in Atlanta, though it remains unclear if that date and location would hold if the Stevenson fight is finalized.
Both fighters are listed in mythical pound-for-pound rankings and remain unbeaten, raising the stakes for a potential welterweight title showdown. Despite the public jostling over weight requirements, there is sentiment that the deal will get done.