Devin Haney’s decision to move up to 140 pounds to challenge for Regis Prograis’ WBC junior welterweight championship, instead of defending his own undisputed lightweight championship, comes with consequences.
The WBC has named Haney its champion “in recess,” meaning “he is not available to defend the lightweight” title for its governing body, as confirmed by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman to DAZN.
That means WBC mandatory lightweight challenger Shakur Stevenson is likely to face the highest available contender in the WBC rankings — Vasiliy Lomachenko — with the winner crowned the new WBC lightweight world champion.
If Haney makes good on his intentions to move back down to 135 pounds following his fight with Prograis, then he would be able to foreseeably challenge that Stevenson-Lomachenko winner for the undisputed lightweight crown.