The sanctioning body has officially placed Keyshawn Davis, a former WBO 135-pound champion and 2020 Olympic silver medalist, as the number one contender in its new welterweight rankings.

The sanctioning body also informed The Ring that Haney's mandatory is due in August. Once news broke, three-division champion Haney wasted no time calling Davis (15-0, 10 KOs, 1 NC) out.

Two factors prompted the WBO's decision. Jack Catterall recently won the WBA's secondary title against Shakhram Giyasov on the Oleksandr Usyk-Rico Verhoeven undercard in Egypt, seeing the Brit removed from their rankings. He told The Ring's John Evans about why he chose not to wait on Haney, pursuing a different title route.

Immediately following Davis' lopsided points win over Nahir Albright the previous week, the 27-year-old declared a desire to move up in weight again. He also declined an IBF 140-pound title fight against Lindolfo Delgado.

Haney (33-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC), who dropped and outpointed then-champion Brian Norman (29-1, 23 KOs, 2 NC) at "The Ring IV: Night of Champions" last November 22, has been waiting for a big fight this year.

A proposed WBO/WBA unification with Rolando "Rolly" Romero fell through due to financial reasons, though the 27-year-old has stated a desire to challenge himself against the best.