By Allan Fox: The Real ‘Face of Boxing Shakur’ Stevenson took to social media to post video footage of him training for his next fight, letting Gervonta Davis know he wants that fight against him.
Tank Davis and his management team have yet to decide who he’ll fight next after his sixth round knockout win over Ryan Garcia last Saturday night.
It’s believed that Tank will fight undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney next because he won’t take a risky match against Stevenson. A rematch against Ryan is out of the question due to how their contest ended.
If Gervonta wants to continue being a popular fighter, he can’t rest on his laurels after his wins over Ryan Garcia and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero. Apart from Haney or Shakur, the only fighters at 135 for Tank Davis to fight are these guys:
- William Zepeda
- Frank Martin
- Vasily Lomachenko – if victorious against Haney
- Jamaine Ortiz
Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) is WBC mandatory to undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney after his sixth round knockout win over Shuichiro Yoshino in a title eliminator on April 8th.
The former two-division world champion Shakur is waiting for his opportunity to challenge for the WBC title against Haney, Vasily Lomachenko, or if the belt is vacated after those two fight.
Shakur, 25, would jump at the chance to challenge Gervonta for his secondary WBA lightweight title if Tank were willing to entertain that fight.
It’s safe to say that Davis, 28, won’t agree to face Stevenson, and even if he did, his promoters or ex-handlers, Floyd Mayweather Jr & Leonard Ellerbe, would advise against him taking that fight.
There’s a big difference between Tank fighting social media fighters Ryan Garcia and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero to facing Shakur Stevenson, who can fight and wouldn’t fall into the simple traps that those two influencers did.
There’s no way that Stevenson can force a fight against Tank Davis without capturing the WBA title held by Haney. Even then, the World Boxing Association would need to order the match as part of their continued efforts at consolidating the titles with their organization.
Haney likely won’t agree to fight Shakur before he either loses or eventually vacates his four 135-lb titles and moves up to 140. Assuming Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) successfully defends against#1 WBC Vasily Lomachenko on May 20th, he’ll either face Gervonta next or vacate and move up to 140 to become fighting in that weight class.
