By Sean Jones: Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis exchanged words on Twitter on Saturday in what could lead to a fight at 130.
You’d have to favor Shakur over Tank if that fight comes to pass later this year.
Shortly after posting his messages on Twitter, Tank deleted them, a norm for him. He deletes comments that he posts on Twitter from time to time, so it’s not a shock that he erased what he wrote about wanting to come back down to 130.
Tank Davis (26-0, 24 KOs) revealed that he’s thinking of returning to the super featherweight division [130] after his May 28th title defense of his WBA ‘regular’ lightweight crown after Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero.
Upon seeing the Tweet from Gervonta that he’s considering returning to the 130-lb weight class, a division that he once ruled with an iron fist, unified WBC/WBO super featherweight champion Stevenson (18-0, 9 KOs) encouraged him to come back down so they can fight.
Now that Tank is a promotional free agent due to his contract with Mayweather Promotions expiring with his fight against #1 WBC Rolly Romero on May 28th, a match between him and Shakur Stevenson is possible.
Tank – Stevenson conversation on Twitter:
Shakur Stevenson: “Come on, let’s do it.”
Gervonta Davis: “I think I might go back to 130 after this fight [Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero].”
Shakur: “I always been like that, you know that.”
Tank Davis: “To show n*** ain’t really like that.”
We’ll have to see if the 27-year-old Gervonta is serious about his desire to return to the 130-lb division to take on Shakur potentially.
It will be a massive fight if Tank does return to the super featherweight division to face Shakur. That would be a pay-per-view-worthy match, and Stevenson’s promoters at Top Rank would likely be all for that fight.
However, Stevenson, 24, is quickly outgrowing the 130-lb weight class, and it’s unclear how much longer he can stay in the division.
If Tank Davis is serious about returning to the super featherweight division, he needs to do it as soon as possible if he has designs on facing Stevenson for his two titles.
Aside from a match against Tank Davis, Shakur would like to stay at 130 long enough to become the undisputed champion. For him to do that, he’ll need to defeat these two champions:
- Roger Gutierrez – WBA
- Kenichi Ogawa – IBF
Shakur’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank isn’t interested in him facing the IBF champion Ogawa and WBA belt holder Gutierrez, as neither fighter is well known.
Not surprisingly, Arum prefers that Stevenson face famous fighters that the boxing public in the U.S is familiar with, and that can bring in fans & increase his popularity.
Shakur is coming off a career-best victory over WBC super featherweight champion Oscar Valdez on April 30th. That’s the kind of opponent that Stevenson needs to become a superstar in the sport.
Arum understands that Stevenson won’t gain much by beating obscure champions in pursuit of his goal of becoming the undisputed champion at 1300.
