For Shakur Stevenson, the chessboard is set. If not the move – from what he stated on X – he seems to have made his intentions clear. Stevenson, who moved to 140 pounds and outboxed Teofimo Lopez ten days ago, summarized his future plans, saying, unless there’s a marquee fight that grabs his attention, he would rather step down to the lightweight division.

However, given that he was stripped of his belt at 135 pounds, sticking around at 140 now seems more a matter of prudence than preference for Shakur Stevenson. Yet it looks like things are falling into place. Ryan Garcia, who’s facing Mario Barrios on February 21, could potentially meet Stevenson at 140. It’s another matter if that happens, as it would derail any plans for a rematch with Devin Haney.

Ryan Garcia’s plans after Barrios may skip Devin Haney, catch Shakur Stevenson’s eye

Stevenson wrote just two words: “I’m down.” He was responding to footage from the Mill City Boxing podcast that hosted Ryan Garcia’s father. Confident about his son’s fitness, the elder Garcia revealed Ryan could easily slip back to the light welterweight division without any rehydration, arguing that a highly trained, fit body reacts efficiently to diet and weight control, preventing large fluctuations.

In that light, a fight could be at either 147 or 140 lbs., with no special rehydration clauses needed thanks to Ryan’s fitness. Henry Garcia’s pointers sparked the host’s curiosity. They asked the question that everyone was thinking.

If Ryan could move back to 140 pounds, what would happen to the Devin Haney rematch? This past November, Haney defeated Brian Norman Jr. and became the WBO title holder at welterweight. If Garcia defeats Mario Barrios, the WBC champion in the division, then a rematch with Haney could be next.

However, when speaking about the feasibility, Henry Garcia appeared skeptical. His doubts largely stemmed from the comments made by Devin’s father, Bill Haney. The elder Haney has reportedly been eyeing a matchup against Rolly Romero over the Garcia rematch.

“I’ll be honest with you. You know, Devin says yes, but have you heard the father lately? He keeps on saying, ‘Nah, we don’t want it. We don’t want it, man,'” said Henry Garcia.

The road ahead for Garcia and Stevenson

To him, that’s a sign the Haneys are cautious about losing to Ryan. “People might disagree with me on that, but this is the truth. Ryan is very dangerous right now. He’s totally focused. He beat Devin Haney. Okay, when he was 30%,” Henry Garcia added.

Now fans and pundits may not entirely agree. In the April 2024 fight, Ryan won via majority decision. However, the decision had to be overturned to no contest after he failed the doping tests. Any claims of a dominant win over Devin no longer count.

Moreover, Ryan has unfinished business with Rolly Romero. The WBA champion defeated Ryan this past May in a shocking upset. So there’s a good chance that if Ryan beats Barrios, he might stick around at 147 pounds and look to get revenge against Rolly.

So where does that leave Shakur? As the WBO and the Ring 140-pound champion, he has plenty of options. A matchup against Richardson Hitchins or Gary Antuanne Russell looks equally compelling. However, given that he’s eyeing a marquee fight like the one he had against Teofimo, Shakur might as well wait for Ryan Garcia to come down and challenge him.