Shakur Stevenson's stunning departure from Zuffa Boxing without having a single fight has stolen all of the headlines in boxing over the past week.
Neither Stevenson nor anyone connected to Zuffa offered details regarding the reasons for Stevenson's release after it was announced on Monday. James "J" Prince, Stevenson's longtime manager, finally addressed the media for the first time on Friday.
Prince explained to FightHubTV:
"We want to move forward with relationships and situations where people honor their word and keep their word. That's important to us."
"We had a contract, so the purses and different things were pretty much agreed upon. It was just getting an opponent. I think a lot of time was spent on the wrong opponent, which was Devin Haney.
"I think Devin wanted the fight, I think Bill [Haney] didn't want the fight. And I think they figured out a way to sabotage the fight. It's interesting how you hear all of the lies and opinions that people have on what happened, but the reality of it is exactly what I just said."
Stevenson, the reigning WBO super lightweight champion and Uncrowned’s No. 4 pound-for-pound boxer, claimed on social media that negotiations to face Haney broke down at the 11th hour because Haney insisted he would only fight at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds, instead of an agreed-upon 145-pound catchweight.
Haney responded by refuting the claim and saying he did agree to 145 pounds, but Stevenson then attempted to put a rehydration clause on him as well, which he would not accept.
Said Prince:
"That's part of the lies that's being told — no [rehydration] clause. We agreed at 145 [pounds], and Shakur was training for the fight. I was told Devin was training for the fight. But as you see, some kind of way, at the 11th hour or whatever it was, 'Oh, we want to fight at 147 now.' So, I don't think they ever wanted the fight."
"I think Devin did, [but] I don't think Bill never liked that fight — and he figured out a way to stop it."
"We had several fighters mentioned in our contract that we should've been focusing on, but for some reason Devin was the target. And not delivering that target, we don't want to continue to move forward with him in mind."
When Zuffa Boxing signed Stevenson, it did so with the understanding he was available to take fights from 135 to 147 pounds. When Stevenson made clear his intention to remain at 135 or 140 pounds, rather than immediately moving up to welterweight, Zuffa tried to make fights for him at 140 pounds but was unable to finalize a viable matchup.
After failed talks with multiple fighters, including Haney, Stevenson’s future no longer aligned with Zuffa's immediate plan, and so the promotion was content to grant his request to be released.
Reports emerged on Monday after the announcement of Stevenson's release that he was offered $7 million to face Jose "Rayo" Valenzuela in January, but demanded $15 million instead. Prince vehemently denied that a Valenzuela fight was ever discussed with him.
Stevenson's departure from Dana White's promotion was thought to be "mutual," though Stevenson has since reposted a video of his former promoter Eddie Hearn lambasting Zuffa Boxing and their "failure" to keep with the pound-for-pound fighter.