By Jim Calfa: Bob Arum says he’s open to making a fight between Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis soon. He says it doesn’t matter to him if Tank Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) is still signed with Mayweather Promotions or not.
For the fight to happen, Stevenson (18-0, 9 KOs) will need to move up in weight from 130 to challenge Tank Davis for his WBA ‘regular’ lightweight title unless he wants to return to the super featherweight division where he holds two belts.
Tank, 27, would likely be the one calling the shots due to him being huge pay-per-view attraction on Showtime, and Stevenson not having reached that level yet.
It would be a risky move on Mayweather Promotions’ part to let Tank Davis fight a skilled fighter like Shakur because this would be a lot tougher fight than anyone he’s faced.
Tank struggled in the first five rounds of his fight last Saturday night against Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, and who knows what would have happened if the challenger had been less reckless.
If Tank Davis does re-sign with Mayweather Promotions, it’s questionable whether Floyd or Leonard Ellerbe would be eager to let him fight Stevenson because there’s too much of a potential lose.
“Obviously, he’s an elite fighter, and there would certainly be an opportunity down the road to match him with one of our fighters, and that’s whether he’s still under contract to Floyd [Mayweather] or he’s not,” said Bob Arum to Fight Hub TV about a future fight between Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Shakur Stevenson.
“This nonsense about not fighting other fighters that are under contract to other fighters, I don’t believe in that, and I think we’ve demonstrated that,” Arum continued.
“We’ve had a lot of match-ups with our fighters fighting against PBC fighters or against Golden Boy fighters.
“I don’t see a reason why not,” said Arum about a fight between Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney. “Shakur is an elite talent and is competitive against any of these guys. He’s a very tough guy to beat, Shakur, as he’s demonstrated.
“Yeah, in the months and years ago, we’re going to put Shakur in with these types of fighters. Nobody wants to see Shakur fighting walkovers. They want to see him tested. Shakur to his credit wants to be tested.
“The truth is, I have absolutely no desire to match him with. If the [Roger] Gutierrez fight can be made [with Shakur] because Oscar’s company [Golden Boy Promotions] promotes Gutierrez, that would be an interesting fight.
“But the other guy [IBF super featherweight champion Kenichi Ogawa], nobody has ever heard of really, and I have absolutely no desire to make that fight.
“But with Gutierrez, that would be a good fight. He’s a good fighter. That’s up to Shakur,” said Arum when asked if Stevenson will stay at 130.
