After over a year out of the ring, Gervonta Davis got back to his explosive best this month by stopping previously undefeated Frank Martin inside the distance.
‘Tank’ is undoubtedly one of the most watchable fighters in the sport, but legal issues outside of the ring after his statement Ryan Garcia win last year didn’t give the fans much to watch other than highlights.
Now back and focused, he retained his WBA Lightweight World title with that stoppage of Martin. For fans and pundits, anything but a unification next will be a disappointment.
There are three options for that. WBC Champion Shakur Stevenson, the IBF’s Vasiliy Lomachenko or the WBO’s Denys Berinchyk. Although negotiations with Lomachenko are reportedly kicking off, trainer turned analyst Teddy Atlas said on his podcast that bout is out of date and would rather see Shakur Stevenson in there.
“That would have been one of my bucket list fights to see Loma and Tank, but that was three, four years ago. Now I’d like to see Shakur Stevenson do his thing. Control the ring. You come in six inches he goes back eight and a half and he counters. He controls space. He’s a ghost in that ring. He fights that style … he keeps you off balance, doesn’t allow you to get a good swing at him.
Could he do that with Tank Davis? Who’s patient, deliberate, knows how to hunt you down, shrink a ring and properly apply pressure without leaving himself wide open, how to use the jab, to go to the body to take the legs away. That’s the fight I would like to see.”
Davis and Stevenson have been involved in a consistent social media back and forth, promising fans that a fight will be made one day.
