Devin Haney will have a few more days to decide on his next fight.
A six-day extension was granted by the WBC Board of Governors for Haney to commit to either defend his undisputed lightweight championship or challenge for the 140 pound crown, the sanctioned body confirmed. The ruling came just hours before the originally imposed deadline for Haney to inform all parties of his decision.
The decision was supported by a dual appeal filed by Haney and WBC junior welterweight titlist Regis Prograis (29-1, 24KOs), as their teams remain in talks for potential showdown later this fall.
“The WBC Board of Governors has granted the petition by both Regis Prograis and Devin Haney until next Thursday 27 July,” the WBC announced Friday via social media.
Friday’s ruling trumps a prior call to action for Haney to inform if he wills remain at lightweight, where the WBC named Shakur Stevenson as its mandatory challenger.
Confirmation to move up in weight or no response at all to the matter will result in Haney being relieved of his WBC title, at which point Stevenson would be ordered to face the next highest ranked available contender. A decision by Haney to remain put at lightweight will prompt the WBC to order a Haney-Stevenson mandatory title fight.
Stevenson is open to either scenario but has openly challenged Haney and is eager for a pound-for-pound showdown between two of the sport’s rising young stars.
He will now have to wait another six days before learning his fate.
Haney (30-0, 15KOs) was presented with a similar request by the World Boxing Organization, though more so to confirm his intentions to move up to junior welterweight. The unbeaten and undisputed lightweight champion let the 24-hour deadline pass without a response, after being denied a request for a one-day extension, as previously reported by BoxingScene.com.
Now it is the WBC who seeks answers as Stevenson (20-0, 10KOs) has already contacted the sanctioning body to enforce his mandatory status. The 2016 Olympic Silver medalist and former two-division titlist earned the position in a sixth-round knockout of unbeaten Shuichiro Yoshino in their April 8 WBC lightweight title eliminator in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey.
The WBC then waited out Haney’s May 20 title defense versus former three-division titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Haney won via twelve round, unanimous decision for the second successful defense of the undisputed crown and seventh overall since he was upgraded to full WBC titlist in 2019.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox