Teofimo Lopez recently called out Gervonta Davis for a fight this year.

‘Tank’ Davis currently holds the WBA Lightweight World Title, being elevated to full champion when Devin Haney vacated and making his first defence against previously-undefeated Frank Martin.

Lopez, who previously held four belts in that division, has settled one weight class up at 140 pounds, winning the WBO belt in his third fight there against Josh Taylor and making two successful defences since.

Both are currently in the market for an opponent and Lopez recently issued the call for Davis to move up and face him before the year is out.

Speaking to Sean Zittel on a potential fight, undefeated super-featherweight Maliek Montgomery used the experience of a 2015 amateur bout with Lopez and more recent sparring sessions with Davis to make a prediction.

“I wasn’t able to get any work with Teo more currently, but from my perspective of being in the ring with both of them, that’s a tough one. I would still probably give the edge to Tank in that fight … just because that power is an equaliser, and it doesn’t help the fact that he has a great boxing IQ also.

So it’s a part of now you gotta go twelve rounds of dealing with somebody who can box, has all those attributes, but also has that type of power that they can hit you one time and change the whole tempo of the fight.”

‘Tank’ is slated to return on December 21 against former super-featherweight champion Lamont Roach, according to Dan Rafael. Lopez is currently without a date or opponent.

On 6th July, Shakur Stevenson recorded a one-sided victory against Artem Harutyunyan in his hometown fight in Newark, New Jersey. However, the hometown hero’s performance put a damper on the celebratory mood as the WBC lightweight champion was soon deemed “boring” by many. Despite being one of the best defensive boxers who rarely gets hit, the boxing world heavily criticized Stevenson for a lack of action in the ring. Clips were circulating of fans leaving the Newark arena before the fight was even over. Fans weren’t fond of this method in his fight against Edwin de Los Santos in December last year, either.

After the fight, American rapper Mason Betha, aka Mase, called out Stevenson on his podcast and stated “I don’t wanna see Shakur fight,” criticizing his boxing style. The 27-year-old boxer was not a fan of this criticism and hit back at Mase, even calling his rap career a failure. In a recent episode of the ‘It Is What It Is’ podcast, Camron Giles aka Cam’ron, Mase’s co-host, asked Mike Tyson about the criticism directed at Shakur over his fighting style, and his lack of fortitude when it comes to dealing with it. While replying to the question, the legendary heavyweight champion was not particularly kind towards his fellow boxer.

Giles laid down the fact that Stevenson was angry at their criticism of him and asked Mike Tyson if he used to respond to criticism in such a manner. “They are entitled to their opinion,” Iron Mike began. The 57-year-old was clear that a boxer should have a thick skin and should know how to handle criticism as it is a part of the sport.

But according to Tyson, the one fact that remains is that even if you are a boxer, you can’t fight everyone, so just accept that fact and move on. Iron Mike continued, “I may be a little sh*tty about it, but they are entitled to their own opinion. I am not gonna kick your a** about it. It’s your opinion.” In a three-decade-long career, Tyson has been on the receiving end of many negative things, but he has always handled it like a professional. Well, most times.

Teofimo Lopez recently called out Gervonta Davis for a fight this year.

‘Tank’ Davis currently holds the WBA Lightweight World Title, being elevated to full champion when Devin Haney vacated and making his first defence against previously-undefeated Frank Martin.

Lopez, who previously held four belts in that division, has settled one weight class up at 140 pounds, winning the WBO belt in his third fight there against Josh Taylor and making two successful defences since.

Both are currently in the market for an opponent and Lopez recently issued the call for Davis to move up and face him before the year is out.

Speaking to Sean Zittel on a potential fight, undefeated super-featherweight Maliek Montgomery used the experience of a 2015 amateur bout with Lopez and more recent sparring sessions with Davis to make a prediction.

“I wasn’t able to get any work with Teo more currently, but from my perspective of being in the ring with both of them, that’s a tough one. I would still probably give the edge to Tank in that fight … just because that power is an equaliser, and it doesn’t help the fact that he has a great boxing IQ also.

So it’s a part of now you gotta go twelve rounds of dealing with somebody who can box, has all those attributes, but also has that type of power that they can hit you one time and change the whole tempo of the fight.”

‘Tank’ is slated to return on December 21 against former super-featherweight champion Lamont Roach, according to Dan Rafael. Lopez is currently without a date or opponent.

Gervonta “Tank” Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) is the current WBA lightweight champion and was last seen when he defeated Frank Martin on June 15 this year. It remains to be seen what comes next for “Tank” as Dan Rafael reveals via his Fight Freaks Unite Substack that Gervonta Davis could be facing WBA super featherweight titlist and promotional free agent Lamont Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs) on Dec.21 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

Gervonta Davis Next Fight: Possible December Showdown vs. Lamont Roach

Davis Eyeing Major December Bout Against World Champion

According to the report from Rafael, there were discussions for “Tank” to headline a PBC Prime Video pay-per-view event on Nov. 2, which has now been ruled out with Nov. 23 or Dec. 14 looking more likely. A third date has emerged as a possibility with December 21 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. presenting itself with WBA super featherweight champion Roach prepared to step up in weight to take on the unbeaten Baltimore fighter.

IBF champion Vasiliy Lomachenko had been the preferred opponent and had many in the boxing world dreaming of a fascinating unification match-up. PBC and Top Rank were said to be working on a deal when Lomanchenko decided to take off the rest of the year, leaving “Tank” to look elsewhere. Jose Valenzuela defeating Issac Cruz took the “Pitbull” fight away and a possible Valenzuela fight didn’t create much interest.

A fight against Roach in Washington would seemingly generate big interest with Roach from D.C. and Davis from nearby Baltimore. The two met in a 2011 amateur contest which “Tank” won via a three-round decision.

Fans think Tank is wasting everyone’s time.

Throughout his illustrious boxing career, Gervonta Davis has generally been considered “picky”. A lot of people believe he actively avoids the top fighters in his division. Despite that, he definitely took a risk when accepting to fight Ryan Garcia, and he passed that test with flying colors.

Now, it seems he’s falling into the same pattern of choosing lesser opponents. A report came out on Friday that the frontrunner to be Davis’ next rival is Lamont Roach Jr. Roach is a fine boxer, but he doesn’t have the resume or starpower to sell a fight against Tank.

A fight between Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson pits two world champions with extremely different approaches to boxing against each another. It is, without doubt, one of the highest level fights to be made in the sport.

‘Tank’ Davis has knocked out all but two men who stepped through the ropes with him, often giving away rounds early in order to close the distance and unleash when the time comes.

Stevenson does not give away rounds. In fact, he makes it his business to win comfortably without taking much back at all. According to CompuBox, opponents land on him on average just 5.3 times per round.

Davis holds the WBA Lightweight World Title and Stevenson the WBC, so the fact that it’s a unification makes it all the more intriguing. When the latter split from Top Rank after a long promotional deal, fans thought there would be no obstacles in the way of making the bout happen.

Whilst Stevenson hasn’t announced his next business move, he has been pictured with Riyadh Season’s Turki Alalshikh, who is fast becoming the most influential man in the sport, and will likely end up on his event next, perhaps through Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom.

However, in an interview with Mill City Boxing, ‘Tank’s co-trainer Kenny Ellis said linking up with the man from Saudi Arabia makes the fight less likely.

“For Shakur [Turki Alalshikh] is more like protective custody, cause Shakur don’t need him to make that fight and if he do go with him he not gonna fight Tank. So, it’s like PBC for real, you know? My opinion.”

Asked for the details as to why the fight wouldn’t happen, especially given Alalshikh expressing that he is keen to work with ‘Tank’, Ellis wouldn’t elaborate.

Shakur Stevenson isn’t afraid to fail. Harsh criticism is something ‘Sugar’ takes in stride. Case in point: his last performance against Artem Harutyunyan at the Prudential Center in his hometown, Newark, saw fans leaving during the championship rounds, and boos echoing through the stadium. But that isn’t stopping him from challenging the best fighters in the lightweight division. The WBC lightweight champion is currently waiting in the wings for the most explosive fighter in the division, WBA titleholder Gervonta Davis.

In an exclusive interview with Andre Ward, when asked if the fight against Davis would happen or not, Stevenson replied confidently, “Yeah I know it’s going to happen, I mean I’m the best… he the best, so when you got two guys that’s the best how can you not fight.”

To back up Stevenson’s statement, his co-manager, Josh Dubin reaffirmed that ‘Killer Kur’ is “waiting and ready to negotiate” and a financially viable offer is all that is needed to close the deal with ‘Tank’. “[We] have our phone lines open, ready for a call, and they have our numbers. It’s a fight Shakur really wants. He’s been begging for it for a long time,” Dubin asserted.

Even though Shakur Stevenson’s display in his last two matchups in the lightweight division was underwhelming, to say the least, he is still willing to challenge the division’s most exciting fighters as fear has no place in the 25-year-old fighter’s mind. In his latest X post, Stevenson opined, “Get to it or die trying. Fear is fake don’t fear failure long as u always give 110 percent u can live with the results.”

On the other hand, Davis’ plan to fight Ukrainian boxer Vasyl Lomachenko has been foiled, as the latter wants to take a break from boxing “to spend more time with the family.” On that note, a fight against Shakur Stevenson seems like a good option. Possibly, the only factor stopping Davis from taking the fight is his gun-shy performances contributing to his diminishing pay-per-view appeal.

Nonetheless, if the Gervonta Davis fight doesn’t work out for Stevenson, there is another fighter waiting to share the ring with him.

De La Hoya wants to offer Zepeda to Stevenson!

Ranked No. 1 by all four major sanctioning bodies, the WBC has ordered Shakur Stevenson to defend his title against mandatory challenger Zepeda. The sanctioning body has set a deadline for the purse bid on August 20, before which the two fighters need to negotiate a deal.

Likewise, Zepeda’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, wants to give him the first world title shot against the Newark native. “I want to make that fight. Shakur, skill-wise, is probably the best fighter on the planet today. “I think the only one that’s in the way of making that fight is me, but I’ll tell you one thing. I will make that fight,” De La Hoya confidently told FightHype.

A win this weekend for Isaac Cruz could prove huge for the “Pitbull”.

It hasn’t been too long since Gervonta Davis‘ last fight, but the boxing world wants to know what “Tank” is going to do next. Another show-stopping knockout victory, this time against Frank Martin, once again proved that Davis is arguably the most dangerous fighter on the planet.

That would generally make it difficult to find him a willing opponent, although Shakur Stevenson continues to claim that he’s fully ready to negotiate and get the possible mega-fight done. There are still plenty of obstacles to clear for that to happen, which could pave way for others to enter the fray.

Isaac Cruz vs Tank Davis rematch coming in November?

According to the VP of Communications at Haymon Sports, who lead Davis’ promotion company PBC, Isaac Cruz could find himself in a rematch with Davis later this year.

I think Tank’s date is November. I guess that’s a possibility if Pitbull comes through his fight unscathed. The timing works out… I would like to see him in a rematch. I would really like to see him and Pitbull go at it again, with Tank not having a hand injury or anything like that. I thought it was one of his toughest fights. Just to see how that would be with him at full strength.

Tim Smith, who was speaking with Kurt Emhoff from The Ring Magazine, conceded that Cruz gave Davis “probably one of his toughest fights“, although he believes it was squarely due to a hand injury.

Since that fight in 2021, Cruz has won all four of his bouts, with three coming by stoppage. He’s currently fighting at super lightweight, where he’ll defend his WBA belt against Jose Valenzuela this Saturday.

Shakur Stevenson has shut down claims that a fight between him and Gervonta Davis is already set for November 23.

The American lightweight rivals are being heavily linked with a unification clash later this year after Tank’s planned next bout fell through.