The WBO last week ordered Haney, its welterweight champion, to open negotiations with No. 1-ranked mandatory challenger Davis for a title defense. And Arum, who promotes Davis, said talks are under way.

Arum loves the matchup from a fan standpoint and believes his talented fighter would hold his own. However, he said Haney (33-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC) must be given the edge because of one factor.

“That’s a spectacular fight, a real fan-friendly fight,” Arum told FightHype.com. “I hope we can make that fight. I know our people have talked to Haney, and we’ll be talking to Keyshawn.

"That would be a super, super fight for fight fans. You have to give the edge to Haney because of his experience, but I wouldn’t count Keyshawn out against anyone.”

Davis, a 2020 Olympic silver medalist, recently declined an opportunity to fight Lindolfo Delgado for the vacant IBF 140-pound title. Instead, after scoring a wide points win over Nahir Albright in May, he opted to move up in weight.

Fighting Davis (15-0, 10 KOs, 1 NC) would earn Handy a handsome payday and more respect in the boxing world. However, he believes that a victory over Stevenson would take his career to another level.

Haney and Stevenson agreed on social media a few weeks ago to fight at a catchweight of 144 pounds, but nothing of substance has occurred since that agreement.

Haney took the WBO welterweight title from Brian Norman by a unanimous decision in November, which was his most recent fight. He's No. 8 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list.