Devin Haney says Shakur Stevenson 'went radio silent' at 144 and 145: 'Stay there'
The WBO welterweight champion said he will not go back down in weight for the fight, and Eddie Hearn said Stevenson "really is a 135-pounder".
Devin Haney says Shakur Stevenson "went radio silent" twice after he offered to fight him at 144lb and then at 145lb, and that he will not go back down from 147lb to make the fight.
Asked on The Ring's Inside the Ring show what had happened with the Stevenson fight, Haney said: "I knew that it was a big fight. I knew that the fans was demanding it. So I said, you know what? I will come to 144. He went radio silent. Then I said, oh, you know what? Let's do it at 145. He went radio silent again."
He added: "Now I'm fighting at 147 and I'm fighting for another title."
Asked by host Mario Lopez whether he would revisit it, Haney said: "I wouldn't revisit going back down in weight. I'll revisit the fight, but I'm a 147-pound champion. I'm the best in the division. I'm the number one guy. Why should I need to cut weight? If he's a 135-pounder or he's a 140-pounder, stay there."
Eddie Hearn, also on the show, said Stevenson "really is a 135-pounder" who has "gone up to 140", and that he did not think what Stevenson's team "were trying to do was unreasonable". He added: "Shakur wants that fight. And so does Devin."
Stevenson has told it differently. He wrote on X in October that "after agreeing to 144 and then 145", Haney "had his lawyer email and say that he would only fight at 147". Haney replied that he "agreed to 145" and Stevenson "went missing for days", as the talks collapsed. Haney's father and trainer, Bill Haney, has said the camp offered the fight at 147 and 145 and "got no concessions".
Haney, the WBO welterweight champion, faces IBF champion Liam Paro in a unification fight on Saturday 19 December at Chase Center in San Francisco, live on DAZN pay-per-view from 1am UK time on Sunday 20 December.
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