Shakur Stevenson is looking for a way back into the ring early next year, and manager Jay Prince is actively exploring options with DAZN. Prince insists that chasing a showdown with Devin Haney wasted valuable time, stalling Stevenson after promised fights failed to materialize.
While Prince confirmed dialogue with the streaming giant, nothing is locked down yet.
“We’re having conversations with quite a few people, and DAZN definitely is one of them,” Prince said to Fight Hub TV.
Prince explained that the split from Zuffa Boxing came down to fight delivery rather than money. Financial terms were settled, yet getting viable rivals into the ring proved impossible.
“We had a contract so the purses and different things were pretty much agreed upon. It’s just getting opponent,” Prince said.
According to Prince, several names were listed in the paperwork, but everything ground to a halt around Haney. Once those talks collapsed, Stevenson chose to cut his losses instead of idling.
“We no longer want to go down the road of focusing on this one guy, Devin, when there’s other things to do.”
Prince also shut down talk that Stevenson turned down a $7 million payday to face Rayo Valenzuela.
“Never was discussed with me. And if it was discussed, I would be the first to know,” Prince said.
That rebuttal dismisses rumors of an easy purse left on the table. Still, Prince gave little detail on why none of the other contracted names crossed the finish line.
He took aim at Haney over weight demands too, denying that a rehydration limit derailed the matchup.
“No dehydration clause. We agreed at 45, and Shakur was training for the fight.”
Prince claimed Bill Haney killed the deal by attempting to drag the contest up to 147 pounds, offering his side of an affair both camps view quite differently.
For now, the DAZN talks remain exploratory. Stevenson has a targeted window, but until an opponent signs on the dotted line, the layoff continues.
