It’s easy to get sidetracked, especially in the sport of boxing. Fighters, no matter how dogmatic in their approach, often take their eyes off the prize. It happened to Mike Tyson in 1990. With a showdown against Evander Holyfield looming, James “Buster” Douglas spoiled the party - stopping him in the 10th round.

The same happened to Anthony Joshua recently. The heavily muscled former unified champ made his way stateside in 2019. From there, a showdown against Deontay Wilder became a real possibility. But, just when fans began fantasizing about a Las Vegas date, Andy Ruiz Jr. ripped away his IBF, WBO, and WBA titles while ruining his record.

Devin Haney respects the history of the game but he has no intention of repeating it. As a matchup against Regis Prograis inches closer and closer - the 24-year-old notices that he’s near the top of nearly everyone’s hit list, especially Shakur Stevenson. Although he isn’t eschewing the competition, Haney isn’t paying anyone else any attention. At least not until he takes care of business.

“Right now my main focus is Regis Prograis,” Haney told Ariel Helwani during a recent interview. “Once I get past him, I’m willing to fight anybody, whenever and wherever.”

For months now, Stevenson has tabbed Haney with the ducking label. Although they did engage in fight negotiations before Haney moved up, Stevenson believes they were disingenuous.

Haney, despite finding the weight-cutting process to 135 pounds arduous, offered Stevenson 25% to fight him. The former Olympic silver medalist, however, crumpled up Haney’s offer and demanded a better one. As a result, Haney walked away and will face Prograis on December 9th, while Stevenson is set to take on Edwin De Los Santos on November 16th.

There’s a certain arrogance that Haney believes Stevenson has been exuding. For the last several years, Stevenson won’t let up. He continues in his belief that Haney will do whatever it takes to stay away from him. For those who are taking his side, Haney is begging you to juxtapose the names on his ledger to the ones associated with Stevenson’s. From there, you can make your own conclusions on who’s been avoiding who.

“If you look at Shakur’s resume and you look at my resume, who’s fought the tougher opposition? If anybody’s ducking, it’s him.”