_1653813744.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1)
NEWARK, NJ – Bob Arum has a more optimistic outlook on Shakur Stevenson facing Devin Haney or Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2023 than he does on sending Stevenson to what would be a fascinating fight against Gervonta Davis.
Arum’s company, Top Rank Inc., promotes Stevenson, Haney and Lomachenko, which could make pairing them up sometime next year an easier task than putting together a Stevenson-Davis fight. The 90-year-old promoter just doesn’t think Davis’ handlers at Mayweather Promotions want him to box Stevenson now that the former featherweight and junior lightweight champion has moved into Davis’ division.
“I don’t think Ellerbe wants ‘Tank’ Davis to fight Shakur,” Arum told BoxingScene.com. “Monitoring what they’ve been doing, there’s a tendency on their part, because they’re following Mayweather’s game plan, to stay away, right now, from any fighter that has a good chance of beating ‘Tank.’ Davis. And that’s Shakur. And that’s Haney or [Ryan] Garcia. They’re not running to do any of those fights.”
The 23-year-old Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) is boxing’s fully unified lightweight champion and could give Davis a shot at legitimate lightweight world titles. The Henderson, Nevada resident will defend his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO belts against Australian George Kambosos Jr. (20-1, 10 KOs) in an immediate rematch on October 16 at Rod Laver Arena. from Melbourne.
The 25-year-old Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) lost both his WBC and WBO 130-pound titles at the scale Thursday, leaving him and Davis fighting only for Davis’ secondary WBA 135-pound championship. Stevenson soundly beat Brazilian Robson Conceicao (17-2, 8 KO) on points Friday night in an ESPN-televised main event from the Prudential Center in Stevenson’s hometown.
Stevenson emphasized after his victory over Conceicao that he is willing to fight Davis or anyone else in the lightweight division.
“I think I’ll fight whoever it is, it’s going to be a great fight,” Stevenson said. “Whoever I fight, as far as anyone in that lightweight division, they’re all big names. But I’m willing to fight anyone. I am resourceful. Whatever they want to put in front of me, I know.”
Representatives for Davis (27-0, 25 KOs), 27, and Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs), 24, of Victorville, Calif., have discussed what would be a pay-per-view fight between the popular boxing entertainers. knock out. However, Arum assumes Davis will face a lesser opponent sometime in December, if the Baltimore native’s legal troubles don’t delay his return to the ring (https://www.boxingscene.com/gervonta-davis-faces-dec -12-trial-date-hit-run-judge-rejects-declaration-agreement–169247).
“Now, okay, if they want to put ‘Tank’ Davis in lighter competition, that’s their choice,” Arum said. “They are not doing anything wrong. They don’t owe anyone anything for not wanting to fight those three guys. But again, that’s Mayweather’s plan and you can’t say anything else that really worked for Mayweather.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
