Gervonta Davis versus Shakur Stevenson is one of the most intriguing match-ups in the sport of boxing.
The two lightweight champions – Davis the WBA, Stevenson the WBC – couldn’t be more different in how they approach the art of fighting.
Only two men from 30 have heard the final bell against ‘Tank’, the other 28 ending up on his knockout highlight reel. Shakur, on the other hand, is a defensive master with a less than 50% stoppage ratio.
Both are undefeated and have made it clear they want to make a unification fight, however fans have so far been deprived. When it does happen, Davis told Cigar Talk earlier this year that it won’t be his toughest night.
“Hell no! How is he the best? Show me something that he’s done that’s outrageous. Show me. His power isn’t outrageous and what defence? He just jumps back, you never see him slip any punches, you never see that. Go watch him, you just see him back up and move around, move around, he ain’t got no technique.
His offence is the same thing. Go look at his fights. Easy work. I touched him with 16 ounce gloves on and he ran, imagine if I hit him with 8 ounce gloves.”
The interview took place after Stevenson’s underwhelming performance against heavy-handed Edwin De Los Santos for the vacant WBC belt. ‘Tank’ put the condition of his rival having a rematch with the Dominican before earning the unification.
“Tell him to rematch Edwin De La Santos and if he beats him we can get it on. I guarantee you he won’t fight that guy again. I guarantee it.”
De Los Santos is 16-2 with 14 knockouts. Stevenson’s safety first approach disappointed many fans, although it was later revealed he had fought with a shoulder injury.
Since then, Davis has defended his own belt with a big knockout of Frank Martin. Stevenson held onto his in a routine points victory against Artem Harutyunyan before a hand injury put him out of a fight against Joe Cordina.
‘Tank’ is set to return in January against Lamont Roach Jr while Stevenson has his eye on a February fight with William Zepeda pending recovery.
