Devin Haney Gets Friday Deadline to Decide Shakur Stevenson or Regis Prograis Fight

Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney reportedly will be deciding his next move soon.

According to Michael Benson of talkSPORT.com, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has confirmed that Shakur Stevenson is Haney's WBC mandatory challenger. Haney now has a deadline of this Friday to decide if he will defend his title against Stevenson or move up to super lightweight to challenge WBC champion Regis Prograis.

Earlier on Monday, Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) gave an indication as to which way he's leaning. After Porgrais asked promoter Eddie Hearn if he would be facing Haney in November and the 24-year-old responded that he'll be ready to go sooner than that:

It's no surprise that Haney wants to move up to 140 pounds to secure a title in a second weight class. The 34-year-old Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) didn't look great in his most recent outing, grinding out a split decision win over Danielito Zorrila last month. He would be a much easier style matchup for Haney than the 26-year-old Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs).

A former two-division champion, Stevenson is likely to be unhappy if Haney chooses to move up. He had celebrated being named the mandatory challenger on Monday:

Haney defended his undisputed lightweight titles in May with a unanimous decision victory over former three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko. After the fight, he and Stevenson had a brief confrontation in the ring. Stevenson had established himself as the top contender for Haney with a sixth-round knockout of Shuichiro Yoshino in April.

If Stevenson is unable to face Haney next, Jake Donovan of Boxing Scene noted last week that he would likely go up against the next highest available contender, which could set up a showdown against Lomachenko.