“Shakur is 140 pounds, man. Shakur is not 147 pounds. You know I’m mandatory at 147 pounds. So I don’t know why people even entertained Shakur when he got to 147 pounds. He’s not 147 pounds,” Keyshawn told InsideRingShow.

“He can still fight at the age of 35. So his weight class is present in his boxing for a reason. And I am mandatory at 147.”

Although Keyshawn and Shakur have repeatedly stated that they would not fight each other due to their friendship, Keyshawn rejected the notion that they coordinated their pursuit of Haney.

“No. Hell no. No, no.”

The comments come after Haney publicly expressed his desire to face Stevenson at the 144-pound catchweight division, potentially putting another fight in front of Davis’ shot at the WBO welterweight title.

Keyshawn, however, has made it clear that Haney remains his preferred target.

“I just feel like it’s a huge fight for me in my career. I just feel like it’s a dramatic fight,” Davis said.

“It’s just me moving up to 147 pounds and I feel like me and Devin, we had some history that was going back and forth. So I thought it was time to target them and try to get that fight,” Keyshawn said.

If a fight with Haney cannot be secured, Davis indicated that former WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. would be a viable alternative.

“Yeah, for sure. I told my guys to contact Brian Norman and the next day I was mandatory, but yeah, I’m fighting with Brian,” Keyshawn said.

Davis made it clear he had no intention of quietly stepping aside amid mounting speculation about Haney’s next opponent.

TIME revealed the inauguration TIME100 Sports List On June 9, 100 figures recognized by the magazine as the most influential people shaping the global sports landscape were honored. Among those honored was Amanda Serrano, one of only three combat sports figures on the list, alongside undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and UFC CEO Dana White.

According to a statement from Most Valuable Promotions, Serrano is the only female combat athlete to be named to the inaugural list. In his career, which began in 2009, Serrano won world titles in seven weight categories.

Serrano responds to honor

In a statement released via MVP, Serrano addressed the recognition and the broader issue she has associated with her career.

“Being named to TIME’s inaugural TIME100 Sports list is an incredible honor. Throughout my career, I have always wanted to prove that women’s boxing is one of the biggest stages in sports and that women fighters deserve the same opportunities, visibility and respect as men,” Serrano said.

Jake Paul points to the MVP role

Jake Paul, who co-founded MVP with Nakisa Bidarian in 2021 and promotes Serrano, reacted to the news on X.

I said it in my documentary and I’ll say it again: being a part of getting Amanda Serrano the recognition she deserves is one of my greatest achievements in life. Congratulations to Amanda on being named to Time’s 100 Most Influential People in Sports for the first time.

— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) June 9, 2026

Background

Serrano’s profile skyrocketed thanks to her rivalry with Katie Taylor. Their first meeting in April 2022 headlined Madison Square Garden and was the first women’s fight to top the bill at the venue. The pair fought three times, with Taylor winning each match, the last one taking place in July 2025.

TIME’s inaugural sports issue features a worldwide cover featuring LeBron James. The full TIME100 competition list will appear in the June 22, 2026 issue, which hits newsstands on July 12.

Sylvester Stallone has spent decades proving people wrong. He created Rocky, became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, earned Oscar nominations and built a franchise that changed his life forever. However, one childhood wound never healed.

In a recent interview, Stallone spoke about the pain he carried from his upbringing and how some of the success he chased throughout his life didn’t provide the ending he wanted.

Rocky’s greatest gift

Rocky transformed Stallone from a struggling actor into a global superstar.

The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and launched one of the most successful franchises in film history. This made Stallone a household name and opened the door to another iconic role in Rambo.

However, Rocky’s success always seemed to come with a bit of sadness.

For years, he struggled to gain recognition as an actor outside of the franchise he created.

Even when that recognition finally came thanks to his Golden Globe-winning performance in “Creed,” many still argue that Stallone’s best acting work came decades earlier in “Cop Land.”

Despite all the success that followed, Rocky remained the role that defined him.

The only thing that’s missing

What makes Stallone’s comments so revealing is that none of these achievements gave him what he wanted most.

Rocky made him eminent and earned him Oscar nominations for both Rocky and Creed, placing the underdog boxer at the center of the most crucial work of his career.

But success could not rewrite the past.

Stallone revealed that even winning the Oscars at the height of Rocky’s success didn’t give Rocky the acceptance he had been looking for for years.

“You want the people you love to say no to you, and now you’re here, you’re at the Oscars, and they don’t want to go,” Stallone recalled.

For most, this moment would be the finish line.

No amount of success can force someone to give you what they never wanted to give.

Another rocky story

For many fans, Rocky is the ultimate story of perseverance and triumph against impossible odds.

In many ways, Stallone lived this story himself.

He fought for the role, fought to get the movie made, and built a career that exceeded even his expectations after refusing to give up his starring role in Rocky.

But nearly fifty years later, Stallone still talks about the pain he felt long before Rocky stepped into the ring.

Rocky changed Sylvester Stallone’s life.

Thanks to him, he became eminent all over the world.

But it just couldn’t give him the acceptance he had been chasing all his life.

About the author

Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.