NEWARK, New Jersey – Shakur Stevenson was surprised when he stood near Vasiliy Lomachenko last month at Top Rank’s gym in Las Vegas.

Stevenson already thought Devin Haney would win their lightweight title bout, but Lomachenko’s small frame further convinced Stevenson of the outcome.

“Devin’s gonna win,” Stevenson told BoxingScene.com. “Lomachenko, I just seen him in the gym. He’s too small. I think that’s the real problem. Lomachenko’s a real good fighter. I don’t take nothing away from him. I just think like he’s really small. I’m just moving up to 135 and I’m bigger than him.”

The 25-year-old Stevenson will make his debut at the lightweight limit Saturday night. The two-division champion will encounter unbeaten Japanese contender Shuichiro Yoshino in a 12-round main event ESPN will televise from Prudential Center in Stevenson’s hometown of Newark.

The winner of the WBC elimination bout between the third-ranked Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) and the fourth-ranked Yoshino (16-0, 12 KOs) will become the WBC’s mandatory challenger for Haney or Lomachenko. Haney (29-0, 15 KOs), of Henderson, Nevada, will defend his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO lightweight titles against Ukraine’s Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) in an ESPN Pay-Per-View main event May 20 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Stevenson, who is listed as a 16-1 favorite over Yoshino, doesn’t expect to challenge Haney for his lightweight titles if Haney beats Lomachenko because the 2016 Olympic silver medalist thinks Haney will move up to the 140-pound division for his subsequent bout. In fact, Stevenson is surprised the 24-year-old Haney remained in the lightweight division after he easily out-pointed George Kambosos Jr. (20-2, 10 KOs) in their 12-round rematch October 16 at Rod Laver Arena in Sydney, Australia, Kambosos’ hometown.

“I done been around Devin for years,” Stevenson said. “Throughout the years, me and him were always one weight class apart. Like he’ll be the weight class above me, so it seems real normal right now that when I’m going up to 135, it’s natural that his body changed and he’s having a hard time making 135 and 140 is definitely the next option for him. So, I’m not gonna say he’s ducking or none of that kinda stuff. I’m a person who’s been around Devin, so I know exactly what’s going on.

“You can look at his last weigh-in – he looked drained and sucked up and looked real hungry. So, it’s like I know he’s probably not gonna stay at 135. I’m surprised he’s even fighting this fight at 135 after the way he looked his last fight. He looked good in the fight, but at the weigh-in he looked drained and sucked up.”

Stevenson came in 1½ pounds overweight for his last fight, which cost him the WBC and WBO 130-pound championships the day before he beat Brazil’s Robson Conceicao (17-2, 8 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder September 23 at Prudential Center.

ESPN will broadcast two 10-round bouts prior to Stevenson-Yoshino as part of a tripleheader scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET.

Heavyweight knockout artist Jared Anderson (13-0, 13 KOs), of Toledo, Ohio, will battle Bronx resident George Arias (21-0, 7 KOs) in ESPN’s 10-round co-feature. Keyshawn Davis (7-0, 5 KOs), a rising lightweight contender from Norfolk, Virginia, is set to box Swedish southpaw Anthony Yigit (26-2-1, 10 KOs) in the 10-round opener of the network’s broadcast.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.