Shakur Stevenson believes that undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney will soon move up to fight at 140lbs.
Haney won the four belts with back-to-back victories against George Kambosos Jr after bringing the WBC strap into the first match-up with the then-unified champion.
Kambosos had taken his four belts (including the WBC ‘Franchise’ champion) from Teofimo Lopez who, in turn, had beaten Vasiliy Lomachenko in an upset win during the coronavirus pandemic.
The deposed Ukrainian fighter is now set to face off with Haney next month in what could be his last major outing, in an attempt to finally win all four major belts at the same time, and Stevenson told BoxingScene.com that he believes his American colleague will be the winner.
“Devin’s gonna win,” Stevenson explained.
“Lomachenko, I just seen him in the gym. He’s too small. I think that’s the real problem. Lomachenko’s a real good fighter. I don’t take nothing away from him. I just think like he’s really small. I’m just moving up to 135 and I’m bigger than him.”
Stevenson himself is now at lightweight, with the 25-year-old unbeaten fighter set to face Shuichiro Yoshino this Saturday as he makes his debut in the division.
“I done been around Devin for years,” Stevenson continued.
“Throughout the years, me and him were always one weight class apart. Like he’ll be the weight class above me, so it seems real normal right now that when I’m going up to 135, it’s natural that his body changed and he’s having a hard time making 135 and 140 is definitely the next option for him. So, I’m not gonna say he’s ducking or none of that kinda stuff. I’m a person who’s been around Devin, so I know exactly what’s going on.
“You can look at his last weigh-in – he looked drained and sucked up and looked real hungry. So, it’s like I know he’s probably not gonna stay at 135. I’m surprised he’s even fighting this fight at 135 after the way he looked his last fight. He looked good in the fight, but at the weigh-in he looked drained and sucked up.”