The landscape at 135-pounds is set to change dramatically with the news that undisputed lightweight champion Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney 30-0 (15) will hand back his WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF titles to campaign at junior welterweight.
The 25-year-old Haney who hails from San Francisco but boxes out of Las Vegas became the undisputed champion when he travelled to Australia to outpoint George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 21-2 (10) in June last year. He returned to the land down under four months later to repeat the treatment in an immediate rematch.
Haney was last in action in May when he narrowly outpointed former three-weight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko 17-3 (11) by scores of 115-113, 116-112 and 115-113.
Next up for Haney is a shot at WBC junior welterweight champion Regis Prograis 29-1 (24) who he will face at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California on December 9.
It was widely thought that Haney would test the waters at 140-pounds and return to lightweight to defend his titles if he lost against 34-year-old southpaw Prograis.
Now it seems that Haney is going all-in, relinquishing his belts to pursue his dream of becoming a three-weight world champion.
“I did everything at 135 that I could,” Haney said on Wednesday according to ESPN. “The biggest fight for me was making that Gervonta Davis fight and his side showed no interest in making the fight. I’ve outgrown the division, so now I make my quest to 140 to become a two-division champion.
“And after this fight, I look to become a three-division champion and move up to 147, God willing that I’m successful in this fight.”
“I made history in becoming undisputed and that was a milestone for me. But now I’m at the point in my career where I want to make the biggest and the best fights happening in the world. I’m a pay-per-view fighter.”
This move will shake things up at lightweight. Newark southpaw Shakur ‘Fearless’ Stevenson 21-0 (10) won the vacant WBC belt two weeks ago with a lacklustre showing against Dominican southpaw Edwin De Los Santos 16-2 (14) after the Mexican-based sanctioning body designated Haney ‘champion-in-recess’ earlier this year.
Stevenson, 26, will now be recognised as the sole WBC champion.
Over at the WBA, 29-year-old Baltimore southpaw and ‘regular’ titleholder Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis 29-0 (27) will be elevated to full champion.
Meanwhile, the IBF appears to have a ready-built way to crown a new champion with Ukrainian southpaw Lomachenko reportedly in advanced talks to face Australia’s Kambosos, 30, in April next year. The pair are the highest ranked contenders in the New Jersey sanctioning body’s rankings.
The situation at the WBO is less clear. If Lomachenko takes the Kambosos fight as expected, that will make 35-year-old Ukrainian Denys Berinchyk 18-0 (9) and 25-year-old Mexican Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz 25-2-1 (17) the top ranked contenders for the vacant belt.