For the vast majority of boxing fans, Gervonta Davis sits on the periphery of the top three pound-for-pound fighters in the sport but when it comes to pay-per-view draw, he and Canelo Alvarez remain at the top of the pile. Now it appears as though there is a new date in the calendar to be marked, as Davis’ second fight of the year has been touted for a date and location.
JUST IN: Trainer wants Jose Valenzuela to face Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis next…
‘Tank’ was upgraded from WBA (Regular) lightweight champion to full WBA world lightweight champion last November and made a first defence of his new strap when he faced Frank Martin at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and the Baltimore-born knockout-artist obliged with yet another stoppage win.
With the belts fragmented across the 135lb division, there is an expectation on Gervonta Davis’ shoulders to compete in unification bouts against the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko (IBF) and Shakur Stevenson (WBC), but it is the latter who has been closely linked to a showdown with the southpaw sensation, after ‘Loma’ ruled himself out.
Instead, it is Davis and Stevenson have been rumoured to face one another in an all-American affair for the WBA and WBC titles, with whispers even circulating that the duo had agreed a deal to face one another in November, only for Stevenson to deny those claims.
Unfortunately for fight fans, William Zepeda now seems set to take on Stevenson after it was reported that the WBC title-holder had ‘verbally agreed’ to meet the Mexican, who is ranked as the number one contender with all four sanctioning bodies. However, Davis is still expected to fight in November, as TGB Promotions have booked out the T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas) for a card on November 2nd.
That being said, Promoter of Matchroom Boxing Eddie Hearn, who has been linked with signing free-agent Stevenson in recent weeks, set out his plans to make Tank-Stevenson in 2025, as per SportsKeeda.
“Shakur is in a good spot at the moment, there’s a lot of people talking about him. He’s gonna have a few offers, hopefully he comes with [Matchroom Boxing]. But it’s got to work for us and him. But when you look at ‘Tank’s’ options, the only thing he can really do is move to [140 pounds].”
“If I’m Shakur, I chase the [William Zepeda] fight. I keep building my brand into the ‘Tank’ fight next year. That’s a big fight when it happens. It’s one of the best fights in boxing.”
As far as potential opponents for November 2nd go, aside from William Zepeda, 21-year-old Floyd Schofield (17-0) is next in line in the WBA rankings but the highly-rated prospect is unlikely to rush in to a fight of that magnitude just yet.
Meanwhile, Edwin De Los Santos spoiled the party when he fought to a dull split-decision defeat to Stevenson last year, the Dominican is ranked #4 with the WBA and would provide ‘Tank’ with a perfect springboard to do what Stevenson couldn’t and knock De Los Santos out, to set up a potential 2025 scrap with his lightweight rival.
