Promoter Bob Arum has three options that he’s going to be offering undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney for his next fight in hopes that he elects to choose one of them, which involves him potentially fighting one of Top Rank fighters.
Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) is now out of contract with Top Rank after his win over Vasyl Lomachenko.
Devin has been immune to the backlash from the boxing world over his questionable win, and he’s resisted thus far the pressure from fans to give Lomachenko a rematch.
The options are as follows for Haney:
- Shakur Stevenson
- Vasyl Lomachenko
- Teofimo Lopez vs. Josh Taylor winner
It’s pretty clear that what Haney is after is the biggest payday possible for his next fight, and he won’t get that fighting a rematch against Lomachenko.
Arum would like for Haney to fight Lomachenko again because it’s a match that will attract more attention now because of the controversy over the results.
However, if Haney is going to do that, he’ll need to strike while the iron is still hot. If he waits too long, the fans will forget about the fight and won’t care when they do eventually fight again.
We saw that happen recently with the Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennadiy Golovkin trilogy last September. Canelo waited four years before fighting Golovkin a third time, and by the time the match took place, fans had lost interest.
“Well, I haven’t talked to Bill about it. He’s doing what a manager should do, and he’s a father, but he’s a manager also, and that’s to look for the best opportunity for Devin, and I’ve come up with three in my imagination,” said Bob Arum to 3 Knockout Rule about his options for Devin Haney’s next fight.
“One is the winner of Taylor and Teofimo at 140 if he wants to go up weight. Secondly, there is a fight with Shakur [Stevenson]. That would be massive because everybody would want to see that fight, and the third is the rematch.
“So hopefully, if Bill [Haney] comes to New York for the Teofimo fight, I’ll sit with him. He’s a very intelligent guy, and we’ll discuss all the options that we have at Top Rank, and then he has to weigh it against what any other promoter would offer to determine what he wants to do next, but we’ve enjoyed promoting Devin,” said Arum.
