Bill Haney Shuts Down Catchweight Talk: Stevenson Fight Happens At Welterweight

Bill Haney has drawn a clear line on the terms for a potential fight between Devin Haney and Shakur Stevenson.

There will be no catchweight. If the fight happens, it happens at welterweight with a belt on the line — and that is the only version the Haney camp is willing to entertain.

Devin holds the WBO welterweight title at 147 pounds. Stevenson is the WBO lightweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">super lightweight champion at 140. The gap between them has made negotiations complicated, with Stevenson insisting he will only fight at 147 with a rehydration clause attached for his opponent, or alternatively at a 144-pound catchweight. Bill Haney has rejected both conditions.

"We're ready, willing, and able to defend our 147-pound welterweight title against anybody at any given time. We're not going down no more pounds." On the 144-pound middle ground Stevenson has floated, he was equally direct: "If it's at a catchweight 144, then it wouldn't be for the belt,” Bill said

The argument from the Haney side is not purely tactical. Bill made the case that a full welterweight title fight carries a weight of historical significance that a catchweight contest simply cannot replicate. If Stevenson moves up to 147 and wins, he becomes a champion in a fifth weight class — a marker that belongs in the record books in a way that a catchweight victory does not.

Stevenson's position is understandable from a physical standpoint. He has spent his career operating below 147 pounds, and asking a natural super lightweight to come up and compete without any accommodation is a significant ask. The rehydration clause he has requested is an attempt to level the playing field.

“I’m going to tell you again, if you want me to come to 147lbs, I am coming there with a rehydration clause. I don’t even do that, but why am I going up to these guys’ weight classes if I am not planning on going there [permanently]. So any of y’all, you wanna fight me at 147lbs? 10 pounds [is the max you can rehydrate]. “Devin is a tremendous fighter but do I think that Devin Haney can beat me? Hell no, hell no,” Shakur stated