By Matt Lieberman: Shakur Stevenson believes he and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis are on a crash course to meet soon in a mega-fight at 135, but only after they clear out the divisions.
Shakur (18-0, 9 KOs) expects the still-growing undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney to move up to 140 and 147 because he’s already big for the 135-lb weight class.
Stevenson didn’t say whether he would stay at 130 until he accomplished his previously stated goal of becoming the undisputed champion.
Shakur’s comment about wanting to hold off on facing Tank Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) until after they both clear out “divisions” suggests that he’s decided to stick it out at super featherweight until he captures the last two belts, not in his possession.
Stevenson currently holds the WBC & WBO belts, and it’s looking like he may need to wait until 2023 before he gets a chance to take on IBF champion Joe Cordina and WBA belt-holder Roger Gutierrez for the last two belts.
“It’s boxing. People try and twist my words, and they want me and him to be against each other so bad,” said Shakur Stevenson to Fighthype when asked if he’ll be fighting Gervonta Davis soon.
“They keep putting a narrative out there. Every interview I see, everybody is asking me about Tank,” Stevenson said. “It ain’t me just talking about him. I don’t ever bring his name up and what he’s doing is good for what he’s doing.
“I’m happy to see him from the trenches in Baltimore. I’m happy to see what he’s doing. I think it’s definitely realistic us fighting, but the thing people forget is that we’re going to clear out divisions.
“We’re going to clear out a lot of the smoke. I feel like when we’re going to fight, it’s more so us clearing out everything else, and then it’s time,” said Stevenson.
You can argue that Shakur is kidding himself if he believes his popularity will increase substantially by defeating Cordina & Gutierrez to become the undisputed champion at super featherweight.
Those two fighters are unknown to casual boxing fans in the U.S, so it would be a complete waste of Stevenson’s time to fight them for their belts.
“Devin [Haney] is going to go up to 140,” said Stevenson. “Devin is big. He’s not like a small 135. He’s going to be at 147 real soon. With Tank, you can tell he’s a smaller frame type of dude, and I’m growing in weight.
“I feel like we’re going to clear out a lot of the smoke, and then it’s just going to be us two left. I’m not going to duck any smoke, and I don’t think he will duck no smoke either.
“I can see us fighting each other, and I think it’s more realistic to happen. We got time to do everything. Realistically, it’s definitely going to happen,” said Shakur.
