Shakur Stevenson Should Take Haney's Offer – Says Eddie Hearn

Eddie Hearn has stated that Shakur Stevenson should accept an offer to fight Devin Haney. 

Stevenson is the current WBC mandatory having beaten Shuichiro Yoshino on his debut in the 135 lb division.

And in the aftermath of Haney’s win over Vasiliy Lomachenko, Stevenson made it clear that he wanted to face the undisputed champion.

As a result, the ‘Dream’ made an offer to give Stevenson 25 percent for a potential fight. That was immediately knocked back by Shakur, as the latter felt it did not reflect his true value.

And in the aftermath, Stevenson’s team contacted the WBO to enforce his mandatory position. As a result, Haney must fight or vacate.

Stevenson’s Response

"We have tried for the last several weeks to negotiate a bout with Mr. Haney on Mr. Stevenson’s behalf, we have not made much progress. 

"Therefore, we respectfully ask that the WBC officially order the bout pursuant to Rule 2.8 so that the “Free Negotiations Period” can begin. I am confident that once the thirty (30) day negotiation deadline is set, we will make more headway.

"In the event we cannot reach an agreement, Mr. Stevenson intends to enforce his mandatory position through the purse bid process," Stevenson’s camp 

Despite this being a factor, Eddie Hearn has advised Stevenson to take the offer. Haney ultimately had to take a less-than-favorable offer to fight George Kambosos Jr.

The American agreed to do so, by going to Australian back-to-back, as he beat the Australian. This was on two occasions to become the A-side. And this is something that Stevenson could do too.

"Shakur is in a difficult position because everyone knows how good Shakur is. At some point, he’s going to have to take short money to make himself a superstar because he’s just not a superstar at the moment.

"In my opinion, he’s not promoted correctly. I don’t think he has the draw-power that he should have that his ability lends itself to, and sometimes you have to call someone’s bluff and take the fight," Hearn

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