Shakur Stevenson Says Haney Is Out of Excuses — Fight Boots Ennis

Devin Haney has been sitting on a WBO welterweight belt and a 33-0 ledger since November, when he outpointed Brian Norman Jr. by unanimous decision to become a three-division world champion. He still doesn't have his next fight booked — and Shakur Stevenson thinks that's the whole problem.

The plan had been a mandatory against Keyshawn Davis, with Top Rank winning the purse bid last week. Then Davis withdrew, and the shortlist evaporated. Stevenson's read is blunt: with himself, Davis and Rolly Romero all off the board, the only name left standing is unified super-welterweight champion Jaron Ennis, and he says Haney has no other option.

Why Boots, Why Now

Stevenson leaned on Haney's own history to make the point, needling him over past callouts of Conor Benn and Xander Zayas and asking why he won't say the same about 'Boots.' It's a pointed jab given the company involved — Benn sits at 25-1 (14 KO) and is booked opposite Ryan Garcia, while Zayas is the man Ennis just steamrolled.

That Zayas result is the elephant in the room. Ennis moved up to 154 and stopped Zayas in the seventh in June to grab the WBA and WBO straps, extending a resume that reads 36-0 with 32 knockouts — an 89% finish rate. Haney, for context, has 15 stoppages in 33 wins. Styles-wise, this would be Haney's slick boxing against a genuine KO artist two divisions bigger than where Devin made his name.

The obvious hesitation is weight. Ennis is a super-welterweight now, and there's no indication Haney wants to climb from 147 to 154 to chase a puncher of that caliber. Ennis has options of his own, too — he's been linked to IBF champion Josh Kelly (18-1-1) and unbeaten Vergil Ortiz, both of whom make more natural sense at 154.

So Stevenson's dare is really a challenge to Haney's ambition. Ennis is available, the belts are real, and the rest of the welterweight picture just collapsed. Whether Haney bites or waits for a friendlier matchup at his own weight will tell us plenty about what 'The Dream' actually wants from the back half of his prime.