By Adam Baskin: Shakur Stevenson says he’s “ready” to face Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis next, but it’s up to him because he’s at the Floyd Mayweather Jr level with his sky-high popularity, can call the shots and pick & choose who he wants to fight. Hence, we’ve seen Tank fight consecutive easy marks in his last two contests in Ryan Garcia & Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero.
The former two-division world champion Shakur (20-0, 10 KOs) notes that Gervonta WON’T even say his name. When asked about him, he seems to get agitated, as if he has a thorn in his backside, suggesting that he wants nothing to do with the talented 2016 Olympic silver medalist.
It’s obvious to Adam Baskin that Gervonta Davis is afraid of the threat that Shakur Stevenson poses to him, so he’s going to stay away from him at all costs because he could mess up the good thing that he has going in making easy money facing lesser opposition like Ryan, Rolly, and Isaac Cruz.
The way Tank Davis avoids discussing a fight with Shakur Stevenson is similar to how Canelo Alvarez won’t talk about fighting David Benavidez, a fighter many boxing fans believe he’s steered clear of for the last four years.
Now, we’re seeing the same avoidance behavior from Gervonta when it comes to the phenom Shakur, which makes it laughable that the Baltimore native is calling himself the ‘Face of Boxing.’
A classic example of Tank’s avoidance behavior is that he won’t mention Shakur’s name. You can argue there’s fear & anxiety involved with Gervonta not wanting to face a real threat.
“I’d love that fight. I think that’s the biggest and best fight in boxing… I’m ready right now. But he’s the A-side. He can pick and choose. He’s at the Floyd Mayweather point. He’s got that leverage now, so it’s all up to him,” said Shakur Stevenson to TMZ Sport on his desire to fight Gervonta Davis.
“I’m very confident [fight with Gervonta will happen]. Tank is tired of me talking, so shut me up. Yeah, he won’t even say my name right now. Tell him to come shut me up. Let’s see what he really wants to do. It’s got to happen.
“That’s the biggest fight of all sport. That’s the Super Bowl right there. I’m coming.
“I want to get back in there as soon as possible. I’m waiting on the May 20th fight. Let’s see how that goes, and then, we’ll see,” said Shakur about his waiting to pull the trigger on his next fight until after next month’s clash between undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney and Vasily Lomachenko.
