Fresh off his recent victory, lightweight boxer Shakur Stevenson challenged Devin Haney, the reigning undisputed champion in the division.
Shakur Stevenson eyeing undisputed clash against Devin Haney
The Rio Olympics silver medallist starred in the Top Rank event last Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, taking on Shuichiro Yoshino, an elimination fight ordered by the WBC to meet the next challenger for the winner of Devin Haney vs. Vasyl Lomachenko on May 20th.
In facing the undefeated Japanese fighter, Stevenson broke no sweat, as he went out to throw a lot of punches. After two knockdowns in the fourth round, the 25-year-old knocked out Shuichiro in the sixth round to secure a win by TKO. Despite the fact that the Japanese showed great enthusiasm and courage, referee Allen Huggins decided to end the contest in the sixth round.
“He felt my power. I sat down on a couple punches and dropped him. Honestly, I wanted the ref to let it go on a little bit longer. I had just caught my second wind. I was going to put him out,” said Stevenson after the win. “Newark’s main name is the Bricks. And tonight, I had bricks in my hands. We did what we were supposed to do. We settled our business. And now we’re going to enjoy it with the family.”
Soon afterward, Stevenson called out Haney, his former sparring partner.
“Just tell all those other lightweights to get ready. I’m waiting for them. I can’t wait for them to finish the fights they’ve got going on, and then it’s my turn,” he added. “Tell him [Devin Haney] to come on. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I swear to God. I’ve been waiting for that for a long time. Me and Devin been in the ring with each other for years. I always got the best of Devin. Tell him, ‘come on.’” [H/T Boxingscene.com]
Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko will meet on Saturday, May 20th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Haney making the second defense of his WBC, WBA (Super), WBO and IBF belts at 135.
During the ESPN broadcast in English, some words were exchanged with Bill Haney, Devin’s father, trainer, and manager. Despite the rumours that this could be Haney’s last fight at 135 pounds, Bill told ESPN announcers that Devin will stick to the division.
