Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis are being urged by fans to put their lightweight belts and undefeated records on the line in one of the most hard-to-predict fights in the sport.
Both men benefited when formerly undisputed Devin Haney moved up in weight, with Stevenson beating Edwin De Los Santos for the vacant WBC belt and ‘Tank’ Davis being immediately elevated to WBA Full Champion after holding the Regular title.
The 29-year-old from Baltimore then defended it in the ring by shutting previously-undefeated Frank Martin’s lights out in the eighth round. One month later, Stevenson kept hold of his own title by beating former Martin opponent Artem Harutyunyan over the distance – a fight which was criticised for not being entertaining enough but was a breeze for the elite operator regardless.
Despite this being the match-up to make, ‘Tank’s team entered talks with Vasiliy Lomachenko and things were progressing well until the IBF Champion from Ukraine backed out due to a lack of motivation.
There are, in the minds of fans, now no excuses or obstacles that can stand in the way of the all-American clash that would pit Stevenson’s unique ability to score and evade against Davis’ calculated stalking and fight-ending power.
Both sides have alluded to talks going on behind the scenes and a report today prematurely announced that the fight was set for November 23 in Las Vegas. Shakur was clear in his response, calling it fake.
This is FAKE!! https://t.co/i9I05DpcoJ
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) July 30, 2024
‘Tank’ Davis also made a rare appearance on X, formerly Twitter, to call the report ‘cap.’
🧢
— Gervonta Davis (@Gervontaa) July 30, 2024
There has been no official word on the negotiations, if things have reached that formal a stage – although fans may read into the fact that the denials came just three minutes apart. Stevenson currently benefits from being a free agent after his longterm deal with Top Rank ended, meaning a conversation with PBC – who represent Davis’ interests – should be a simple one.
