Shakur points to Haney’s previous outing against Jose Ramirez at the same weight as proof of concept. For Stevenson, 144 pounds represents a fair “middle ground.” This allows Haney to avoid the grueling cut to 140, while preventing Shakur from being completely stretched by a man who has clearly outgrown the lightweight limit.
“I think Haney fought Jose Ramirez two fights ago, if I remember, and it was at 144 pounds. So, I’d love to do it at 144 pounds. We can meet him in the middle,” Shakur told The Ariel Helwani Show.
The flaw in Shakur’s proposal is the assumption that Haney’s leverage remained the same. Since the Ramirez fight, Haney has rebuilt his reputation after the Ryan Garcia debacle.
Haney defeated WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr last November. defeat and regain its status as an A-side tie in major negotiations.
While Haney Ramirez fought out of necessity at 144 to get back into the win column, he is now a welterweight champion. Asking a title holder to go back for a non-title fight is a much tougher sell than it was six months ago.
“I don’t think the belt needs to be on the line. I think the fight is big enough for both of us to fight at a catchweight,” Shakur said. “And I don’t think the belts really matter in that case. I think we could both sell out a big arena, and it would be a tremendous fight.”
Stevenson is right about one thing: the fans don’t need a WBO or WBC belt to care about this fight. By removing the belts, they eliminate sanctioning fees, saving both fighters hundreds of thousands.
They also remove mandatory obligations that often stop big fights and weight restrictions that enforce rigid divisional rules.
Shakur laid out a clean proposition, but in boxing, clean rarely means easy. He essentially asks Haney to meet him on terms that favor the smaller man’s longevity. It’s a calculated move to see if Haney values ​​the tremendous fight more than the benefits he’s earned at 147.
