By Brian Webber: Stephen Espinoza says he spoke to Gervonta Davis’ trainer Calvin Ford and he states that Tank wants to fight again this year.
Tank will turn 29 in November, and he still doesn’t have a career-defining win on his ten-year resume. It would be a good time for the Baltimore native to finally start fighting talented opposition to show that he’s for real and just someone looking to make easy money.
Some boxing fans believe he’s just a fake manufactured fighter, fed weak opposition his entire career like Ryan Garcia to make him look better than he is, and steered away from quality opposition.
Espinoza says whether Tank (29-0, 27 KOs) can fight later this year will depend on his physical condition. He’s been out of action since his fight against Ryan Garcia last April, and he recently did some jail time.
If Tank returns this year, Chris Colbert & Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz are two of the names mentioned as possibilities for him to fight
. The problem with Tank fighting either of those guys is they’ve looked poor recently, with Colbert (17-1, 6 KOs losing to Hector Garcia and winning a questionable ten round unanimous decision over Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela last March.
Some fans want to see Colbert run it back with Rayo to clear up his controversial decision or at least try to.
“That’s something he definitely wants. I talked to [Gervonta’s trainer] Calvin [Ford]. He’s getting back into it,” said Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza to Hardcore Boxing News when asked if Gervonta Davis wants to fight again this year.
“It depends on where he’s at physically, being out of the gym for a couple of months. It does take some adjustments. He’s got to handle some business outside of the ring.
“His goal is to get back as soon as he can,” Espinoza continued about Tank Davis. “If we can fit him in before the end of the year, we’ll do that. If not, it’ll be early next year.
‘Pitbull’ Cruz (25-2-1, 17 KOs), a fighter Tank Davis already beat in 2021, struggled last month to edge Giovanni Cabrera by a twelve round split decision on July 29th.
After the fight, Pitbull complained about the scoring, but it was clear he’d gassed out in the second half of the fight and was used as a pinata by Cabrera.
Tank would look like he’s cherry-picking if he chose to fight Isaac Cruz after that performance, which you can argue, is precisely what the Mayweather-promoted Baltimore native has been most of his career apart from his fight with Jose Pedraza in 2017.
Obviously, you can forget about Tank fighting any of the dangerous contenders from this list:
– Shakur Stevenson
– Frank Martin
– Devin Haney
– Vasily Lomachenko
– Raymond Muratalla
– William Zepeda
– Keyshawn Davis
– Edwin De Los Santos
Even if Tank Davis had been staying busy in the gym all these months, it’s unrealistic that PBC would put him in against those fighters and risk getting him beaten or worn down for the punishment he would have to take to defeat them.
“We haven’t really talked about opponents,” said Espinoza about Tank Davis. “It’s tough to talk about opponents when you don’t have time yet. I’ve seen the same stuff that you have. [Chris] Colbert or Isacc Cruz.
“The conversations haven’t really started yet because we got to figure out a date for when he’ll be available on that date. Right now, it’s all speculation. There’s certainly nothing done or anything loosely in place yet,” said Espinoza.
If Tank is going to fight this year, Espinoza will need to talk with him & his management. Granted, if Tank is going to be picking the low-hanging fruit, fighting Isaac Cruz or Chris Colbert, he can afford to wait before talking with Espinoza about facing one of those two easy marks in November or December.
