By Sam Volz: Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe took a shot at Top Rank promoter Bob Arum for him saying this week that he wants Devin Haney to defend his undisputed lightweight championship against his #1 WBC mandatory Vasyl Lomachenko next with the winner to battle former two-division world champion Shakur Stevenson.
Arum isn’t expecting Mayweather Promotions to contact him suddenly to try and insert Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis into the equation for the undisputed championship. Tank is supposed to be fighting Ryan Garcia next, and who knows when that match will finally get made?
Arum wants to make Shakur Stevenson the next superstar in the lightweight division. If Mayweather Promotions were interested in putting their golden goose, Tank Davis, into the mix, they could always call Arum. I’m not holding my breath, waiting for that to happen.
Tank is too busy fighting guys like Isaac Cruz, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Leo Santa Cruz to want to compete for the undisputed championship.
There’s no need for Ellerbe to be bitter right now because there’s a very good chance Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) will vacate his four lightweight titles to avoid Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) moving to the safe territory at 140, where he won’t have to worry about being schooled by the talented former three-division world champion.
If/when Haney vacates his 135-lb belts, Lomachenko will go after the WBC, probably against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, while the other belts are fought over by Shakur Stevenson, Gustavo Lemos, and Michel Rivera.
Ellerbe pointed out that Arum runs things, and he’s not going to do a non-inside house fight unless it’s a“win-win situation” for him.
It’s hard to ignore Ellerbe’s envy, as he might be feeling like someone on the outside looking in, knowing that the chances of his flagship fighter Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis with Mayweather Promotions will probably NEVER get the chance to fight for the undisputed championship due to the way they carefully maneuver the Baltimore native.
Lomachenko and Haney have wanted to fight Tank Davis for ages now with no luck, and it’s now gotten to the point where they rarely mention him because it’s not going to happen.
This has been the play all along and Arum has been very clear all along. It’s amazing how some fans and media ran with any other scenerario. Bob calls all the shots at Top Rank. Bob ain’t doing shit outside his house unless he’s in a win win situation. 🤷🏾♂️ https://t.co/ngktc1U7KZ
— Leonard Ellerbe (@LEllerbe) October 22, 2022
If Mayweather Promotions would let Tank Davis fight quality opposition, they’d make the move to set up a fight with Haney, Lomacchenko, or Shakur next instead of Instagram/Youtube fighter Ryan Garcia.