Shakur Stevenson says a lightweight unification fight between him and Gervonta 'Tank' Davis must happen because they are the best fighters.
Unfortunately, for WBC 135-lb champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs), the fight between them is not going ahead because His Majesty wants to match him with #1 William Zepeda on the proposed card with Terence Crawford vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr. .
Shakur, 27, may not win that fight against Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs), given the Mexican fighter's superior power and offensive skills. Stevenson can't stand in the pocket and fight Zepeda like he sometimes did against his last opponent, Artur Harutyunyan.
Zepeda hits too hard and throws too many punches for a pot-shooting fighter like Shakur to fight him in the trenches. The only way Shakur can fight Zepeda is to run like he did against Edwin De Los Santos, and he might win using that method.
Shakur doesn't pretend to be in Tank Davis' class. His fights with De Los Santos and Joet Gonzalez showed that he is not on Tank's level.
Andre Ward: “Gervonta Davis, is it just boxing meat, or real beef?” said Ward on YouTube channel All The Smoke Fight. “Where is it from? I know it's a long story but anything you can share.”
Shakur Stevenson: “It's bigger than boxing, I guess you could say. History and all that is happening. It's hard to even talk about it because we have to fight.”
Ward: “Do you think it will happen?”
Shakur: “Yes, I know it will happen. I am the best, and you are the best. So when you get the two best guys, how can you not fight? The only way you can't fight is if one of the guys isn't like that, and one of them loses, or one of them takes L.
“I think we're both really good fighters at that level.”
Ward: “From a boxing perspective, what makes Tank Tank? We see the potential, but it must be more than that.”
Shakur: “Nah, you have a plan. He stops the boys. He has been boxing since he was young, just like I started boxing since I was young, you can see for yourself from his experience. Even in his last fight with Frank Martin, you could see that Frank Martin was a child.
“The experience he has is not at the level of Tank. He just came out with the experience. He let him waste his energy, took his breath away, and at around 8, it was time to go home.”
Ward: “What would you like to see in that fight [Tank Davis] happened?”
Shakur: “Any time. I think I'm ready, and he's ready. We are both in our beginnings. It can happen next. Maybe next year. Whenever he says 'Let's fight,' that's when it's going to happen.”
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