By Adam Baskin: Shakur Stevenson says he wants to see if Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis will try and shut him up because he’s going to keep talking and letting the world know that he wants to fight him to take away his secondary WBA lightweight title that he’s been holding onto since he captured the belt in 2019 by defeating 38-year-old Yuriorkis Gamboa.
Shakur (20-0, 10 KOs) says he’s ready to fight Tank now, but it’s up to the Baltimore native if he wants to face him. He admits that Tank Davis won’t even say his name indicating that he doesn’t want any of that smoke.
“He won’t even say my name. Let him come shut me up. Let’s see,” said Shakur Stevenson to TMZ Sports about Gervonta Davis, daring the WBA secondary lightweight champion to fight him.
What many boxing fans don’t realize is Gervonta’s management are the ones that pick & choose his opponents for him, and they’ve been very, very careful to select beatable guys his entire career.
The cherry-picking formula has worked for Tank; he has made a lot of money, stayed unbeaten, and has become a mini-star. They won’t mess up the gravy train by throwing Tank in with Shakur and watching him get a boxing lesson and exposed.
Tank would be a much bigger superstar if he took risky fights against guys like Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney, Vasily Lomacheenko, and Regis Prograis. Still, he’d probably get beaten many times and worn out.
Stevenson states that he’s waiting on a fight this month between undisputed lightweight champion Haney and Lomachnko on May 20th. There’s a chance that Shakur will get the winner of that fight, which will put him in a position to become the top dog at 135, the guy with all the gold.
Having all the titles will put Stevenson in an excellent position to get a fight against Tank Davis because he’s going to look silly holding onto his secondary WBA trinket belt, which the World Boxing Association will soon be phasing out. If the WBA orders Tank to fight Shakur as part of their belt consolidation program, it’ll force the issue on the reluctant Baltimore native.
“It depends on what he wants to do. If he’s ready, it’s all up to him,” said Shakur about Tank Davis being the one that will decide when he wants to fight him.
“I want to get in there as soon as possible. I’m waiting on the May 20th [Devin Haney vs. Vasily Lomachenko] fight. Let’s see how that goes,” said Shakur.
