WBO Positions Next Devin Haney Title Defense

Keyshawn Davis has climbed to the top spot in the WBO welterweight rankings and is now in line to become the mandatory challenger for three-division world champion Devin Haney.

BoxingScene was the first to report the news on Wednesday morning and then, the WBO later posted the latest June welterweight rankings on their website showing the former WBO 135 lb. champ Davis as their top welterweight. 

Davis is ready to make a full-time move to 147 lb. after experiencing significant difficulties making weight at the lower divisions. Davis fought twice at junior welterweight, requiring two attempts to hit the 140-pound limit before defeating Nahir Albright in the Top Rank Boxing main event in his hometown of Norfolk, VA, last month.

His weight issues first surfaced when he lost his WBO lightweight title on the scales ahead of defense with Edwin De Los Santos last Summer, coming in over 4 lb. overweight. The fight was ultimately canceled.

Rather than pursue an IBF title opportunity at junior welterweight against Mexico’s Lindolfo Delgado, Davis has opted to campaign at welterweight, a division viewed as a more natural fit.

The WBO has decided to elevate Davis to the top ranking following England's Jack Catterall’s decision to pursue a WBA “regular” title bout against Shakhram Giyasov, a fight that he won by decision two weeks ago.

Davis was selected ahead of several notable contenders, including hall of famer Manny Pacquiao, Teofimo Lopez, and Brian Norman, whom Haney knocked down early and beat decisively the for the title in November in Saudi Arabia.

BoxingScene further reported that they learned that Haney will receive an order soon to defend his title against the division’s mandatory challenger. With the mandatory defense due in August, Davis would be the clear choice.

Of course, Haney could elect to vacate the WBO belt and avoid being forced to fight Davis, however, that seems unlikely, as the potential Davis fight would be a lucrative one against a known commodity like Davis.

There are persistent rumors that Haney, who's a top 10 pound for pound fighter currently, will elect to sign a mult-fight deal with Turki Alashikh and Zuffa Boxing. And, if he does that, then it's likely he will forgo the WBO belt to instead help Zuffa's attempt to legitimize their own titles further by making him their welterweight champion.

If that move happens, it would make a Davis fight difficult, if not impossible, as his alignment with Top Rank would be a large obstacle to Davis fighting on a Zuffa promoted card.

Further and more likely, Davis, as the new WBO #1, would get a vacant title opportunity against another contender of theirs.

So, the next move is Haney's.