A lightweight unification between Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson may be the hardest bout in boxing to call, but unified super-middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez has backed a winner.
Stevenson embodies the phrase ‘hit and don’t get hit,’ utilising stellar movement, defence and speed to frustrate opponents on his way to comfortable points wins. Though he has been critised for being less than entertaining in his last two bouts, he has told fans that he will show his best when he is in with the best.
Enter ‘Tank’ Davis, who has been taken the distance just twice in 30 fights. The knockout artist from Baltimore has one of the most impressive highlight reels in the sport and has been said to have seriously hurt men much heavier than him in the gym.
Could he decode Stevenson, close the distance and land his significant power punches? Canelo believes so, telling Sway in the Morning that he respects both men but backs Davis.
“Shakur Stevenson is a good fighter, he moves a lot and it’s very difficult to hit him but I like Gervonta Davis, he’s a really good fighter. He hits hard and he knows how to go forward. I put my money on Gervonta.”
Both men have fights in the coming weeks, with Stevenson defending his WBC belt against hot prospect Floyd Schofield in Saudi Arabia on February 22 before ‘Tank’ puts his WBA strap on the line against Lamont Roach Jr in Brooklyn on March 1.
Should they come through as expected, there is no better match-up in the division to be made. That does not mean that negotiations will be easy, however, with the fight struggling to get made in the past and Davis adamant he will be retiring at the end of this year.
