{"id":737492,"date":"2026-06-15T05:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T05:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/737492\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T05:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T05:58:12","slug":"the-144-pound-dead-end-why-haneys-weight-concession-wasnt-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/737492\/","title":{"rendered":"The 144-Pound Dead End: Why Haney&#8217;s Weight Concession Wasn&#8217;t Enough"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=boxingnews24.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"208\" alt=\"Add EBoxing News 24as a preferred source on Google\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/google.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqLAgKIiZDQklTRmdnTWFoSUtFR0p2ZUdsdVoyNWxkM015TkM1amIyMG9BQVAB?ceid=US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><br \/>\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"468\" height=\"128\" alt=\"Follow Boxing News 24 on Google News\" style=\"height:100%; width:auto; display:block;\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/follow-google-news.png\"\/><br \/>\n  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p>The social media exchanges between the fighters offered a glimpse into the competing interests at play. Haney had verbally agreed to drop down to 144 pounds to accommodate Shakur, while Keyshawn continued pursuing a title fight with the WBO champion.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to Keyshawn on X, Shakur wrote:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly gone move off ya blessing brotha.. If not go cook that nigga!!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Haney later posted:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c144 wasn\u2019t enough\u2026 still don\u2019t wanna fight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Taken together, the comments raised questions about whether Haney\u2019s willingness to compromise on weight was enough to overcome the complications created by Keyshawn\u2019s mandatory position and Shakur\u2019s reluctance to move ahead without his friend\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n<p>Devin\u2019s latest post may have provided some clarity. Defending the title against Keyshawn would satisfy the WBO but could put bigger fights on the back burner. Taking the Shakur fight at 144 pounds, or pursuing Ryan Garcia or Conor Benn, could mean leaving the WBO title behind.<\/p>\n<p>Haney may have already made his choice.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the social media exchanges involving Shakur and Keyshawn, Haney returned to X with a brief but direct message aimed at his mandatory challenger:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKEYSHAWNNNN.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Haney didn\u2019t elaborate on the post, making it unclear if he was accepting the challenge or simply responding to the continued back-and-forth. However, the message appeared to signal that his attention has shifted toward the unbeaten contender.<\/p>\n<p>If the WBO title remains a priority, Haney and Keyshawn could soon find themselves on a collision course. For a fighter who had already agreed to meet Shakur at 144 pounds, Haney\u2019s latest message suggested that the mandatory fight may now be the path in front of him.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Only gone move off ya blessing brotha.. If not go cook that nigga!! <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KeyshawnDavis8?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@KeyshawnDavis8<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YvAVMgxrsK\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/YvAVMgxrsK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShakurStevenson\/status\/2064773760280908062?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">June 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"182\" data-end=\"497\">Dan Ambrose is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24, recognized for his direct analysis and extensive coverage of the global fight landscape. His reporting focuses on major bouts, divisional developments, and the sport\u2019s most discussed storylines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The social media exchanges between the fighters offered a glimpse into the competing interests at play. Haney had&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-737492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}