Bill Haney didn’t seem interested in the fight between Devin Haney and Richardson Hitchins when asked if the former IBF junior welterweight champion was on Devin’s list of potential opponents at 147 pounds.

Distinction

Hitchins has talked numerous times about moving up to welterweight and chasing bigger names in the division, including Devin Haney. Bill has made it clear that he does not see it as a priority option at this time.

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Last update: 2026/05/11 at 11:55

Teofimo Lopez has named the only fighter he believes is capable of “challenging” David Benavidez, who remains undefeated after his victory over Gilberto Ramirez.

The “Mexican Monster” dethroned Ramirez with a merciless sixth-round stoppage in his final appearance, becoming a three-division world champion, winning the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles.

Since then, many people have expressed interest in Benavidez facing former world cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, or perhaps even heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk.

Although both fights undoubtedly aroused his interest, it seems much more likely that the 29-year-old will face Dmitry Bivol in an undisputed fight.

Both fighters have already held preliminary talks, which are expected to take place later this year, and Bivol is expected to successfully defend his title against Michael Eifert on May 30.

This is his first appearance since winning all four major belts in February 2025, when he took revenge on Artur Beterbiev with a majority vote.

Bivol then elected to undergo back surgery rather than make a mandatory defense of the WBC title, which is why Benavidez was subsequently elevated from “interim” to full lightweight heavyweight champion.

Earlier, Benavidez secured a hard-fought points win over David Morrell, which is partly why Lopez believes Bivol poses a worthy challenge for the high-frequency attacker.

Speaking to several media outlets, including: Fighting Hub TVLopez explained how Bivol’s style could make for an intriguing competition.

“The only person who could probably challenge him would be Bivol… just because of the distance.

“David Morrell gave him a tough fight, and that was just from the distance.”

Bivol is an expert when it comes to distance control and forward and backward movement, so Lopez sees him as a suitable challenge for Benavidez.

“You want to see Boots fight Devin Haney? Ortiz. Ortiz. Ortiz. That’s just a recap,” Bill said to A million dollar game.

Although Zayas recently won a world title and continues to gain momentum as one of boxing’s younger stars, Bill’s comments suggest he does not yet place the Puerto Rican champion in the same category as Vergil.

The discussion also became awkward when Bill hesitated for a moment after asking if Boots was already a proven fighter.

– Jaron Boots Ennis, what is this? Haney said. “Is it proven?” He is battle-tested.”

Others around him immediately reacted to the pause.

“That’s too much thinking, man,” Bill said. “He said he was battle-tested.”

Bill later returned to the topic of Vergil, making it clear that he believed the match would answer more questions about Boots than the fight with Zayas.

“It’s a completely different type of fight. People already know what kind of dog he is,” Bill said.

Vergil continued to build a reputation as one of the most unsafe pressure fighters in the division with his power, aggression, and willingness to take on challenging fights. Meanwhile, many fans still see Zayas as someone on the rise, even though he is already one of boxing’s youngest champions.

The discussion around Ennis has intensified since his move up to junior middleweight following his welterweight career, where he dominated most of his opponents but continued to face criticism regarding the level of his major victories.

Bill also made it clear that Devin has no plans to return to lightweight, discussing possible future fights at welterweight and junior middleweight.

“Once you go up, you never come back down,” Bill said.