{"id":638744,"date":"2026-06-14T19:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T19:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/638744\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T19:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T19:48:08","slug":"trainer-robert-garcia-predicts-devin-haney-vs-shakur-stevenson-by-a-very-slight-margin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/638744\/","title":{"rendered":"Trainer Robert Garcia predicts Devin Haney vs Shakur Stevenson: &#8220;By a very slight margin&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Esteemed trainer Robert Garcia has offered his expert opinion on a potential clash between Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney, who have verbally agreed to meet at a catchweight of 144lbs.<\/p>\n<p>The two American stars are both rumoured to be joining Dana White\u2019s Zuffa Boxing, seemingly with a view to collide under the promotional banner.<\/p>\n<p>While nothing is confirmed, the pair have been going back-and-forth on social media, with Haney verbally agreeing to travel 3lbs below his preferred fighting weight.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The Dream\u2019 claimed his WBO welterweight title in November, becoming a three-division world champion by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.co.uk\/boxing\/story\/_\/id\/47067202\/haney-dominates-norman-capture-wbo-welterweight-title\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">dethroning and unanimously outpointing Brian Norman Jr<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It was confirmed by the WBO earlier this week, however, that <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnewsonline.net\/news\/devin-haney-risks-being-stripped\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Haney would be stripped of his belt if he ends up facing Stevenson at a 144lb catchweight<\/a> because the 27-year-old has been ordered to face mandatory challenger Keyshawn Davis.<\/p>\n<p>If they do ultimately square off at 144lbs, though, top trainer Garcia has told <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/kjVl04b9mHo?si=3cExQpYb8uHwGMRF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Fight Hub TV<\/a> that he would favour the WBO super-lightweight champion by the slightest of margins.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHonestly, I think it\u2019s a great matchup for both. They both fight very smart \u2013 they don\u2019t make [many] mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first one that makes a mistake, the other one is going to take advantage of it. It\u2019s a tough fight. By a very slight difference, I probably think Shakur [would win]. He\u2019s too smart.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I like about Haney is that he\u2019s the one willing to take that chance. He\u2019d be willing to take that risk, and that\u2019s where I think Shakur takes advantage [of his mistake].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stevenson became a four-division world champion by dethroning Teofimo Lopez in January, claiming a wide unanimous decision victory in his first outing at 140lbs.<\/p>\n<p>The 28-year-old is therefore reluctant to face Haney at 147lbs, where his opponent would boast a significant size advantage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Esteemed trainer Robert Garcia has offered his expert opinion on a potential clash between Shakur Stevenson and Devin&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-638744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}