Shakur Stevenson is confident he will beat Gervonta Davis, as he eyes a fight with him next year.
Shakur is the current WBC Lightweight Champion who is out injured after hurting his hand in sparring. It prevented his fight with Joe Cordina from going ahead on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol card. It was a massive setback since Shakur had just signed a deal with Matchroom Boxing, as it would have been his first fight under the promotional company. The aim was to beat Cordina and then set up a potential fight with William Zepeda next year, who is mandatory for his WBC belt. A win over Zepeda would have then increased the calls to make a unification with the WBA Lightweight Champion Tank Davis.
Shakur’s Next Fight
Shakur is on course to make a return early next year. Eddie Hearn recently revealed that Shakur has agreed a deal in principle with the Saudis to fight Zepeda. But that depends on Zepeda coming through his next fight against Tevin Farmer as they square off on December 16. If Zepeda beats Farmer, which he is expected to do, all that is left is for the latter to accept the deal. This is a very risky move for Shakur since Zepeda is a knockout artist. There are suggestions that Shakur should take a tune up before he considers fighting Zepeda.
The perception around the Davis fight has been that Tank can stop Shakur, or that Stevenson will be able to outbox him. Stevenson’s resume shows he does not have the best knockout ratio: 22-0 with 10 KOs. Therefore, he will have to earn Davis’ respect, as it is very hard to see how he can keep him off by moving around for the full 12 rounds.
But Shakur is a three-weight world champion with a big win over Oscar Valdez. He also secured wins when his performances were not the best against Edward De La Santos and Artem Harutyunyan. That shows a fighter who can work out things and make adjustments even when the tide is against him. And Shakur let everybody know that he would beat Davis.
Shakur On Tank
“Next year will be perfect. The fight has got to happen. There’s no way the fight don’t happen. The best vs. the best. I can’t wait for it. I’m going to win for sure. I think a lot of people will bet the other way and lose money, but the people that bet this way are going to lose money,” Shakur said
But that all depends on whether he wins his next fight. And if it is Zepeda, Shakur has to be careful not to overlook his man. He talked up his skills before the fights against De Los Santos and Arman, which did not result in the spectacular performance that he was hoping for. Fans also booed him during the De La Santos performance as he was fighting on the back foot.
Meanwhile, some fans walked out before the final round in his win against Arman. However, Shakur’s deal with Matchroom could be the catalyst for increasing his profile. And given that Shakur is considered one of the best technically skilled boxers out there, it is only a matter of time before he racks up sufficient wins against the big names to call for that Davis fight.
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