Hearn’s Strategy To Funnel Gervonta Davis Exclusively Towards Shakur

Promoter Eddie Hearn is confident that Shakur Stevenson will get the fight against Gervonta Davis next if he’s victorious against William Zepeda on July 12th. Hearn feels that  WBA lightweight champion Tank (30-0-1, 28 KOs) doesn’t have any other options in the division besides Shakur. He would like Tank and fans to believe his only option is Shakur, but that’s not reality.

Untapped Lightweight Riches

As the King of the 135-lb division, Tank has unlimited fight options. What Hearn is talking about is Davis having limited options for well-paying fights. However, Tank plans to fight Jake Paul, which would be a huge money fight. There’s also the possibility of a rematch with Ryan Garcia, and that’s a much bigger fight than Shakur.

Tank’s True Options

– Abdullah Mason
– Raymond Muratalla
– Keyshawn Davis
– William Zepeda
– Vasily Lomachenko: *If he comes back
– Andy Cruz
– Floyd Schofield
– Ryan Garcia
– Tevin Farmer

“Who else is he [Tank Davis] going to fight?” said Eddie Hearn to Secondsout when asked if he thinks a fight between Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson is realistic. “If he beats Lamont Roach, it’s the only fight for him [Tank]. But Shakur has got to go out and look good against [William] Zepeda, which I believe he will, and it’s his chance really to back up all the hype. Yeah,” said Hearn when asked if Gervonta will beat Roach in the rematch.

Shakur’s Limited Options

The reality is that Shakur has no options for him to fight to make big money other than Tank. For Stevenson to get anywhere near the same kind of money he could get fighting Tank, he would need to move up to 147 and fight Conor Benn. If he stays at 135, his only option is Gervonta, which might not happen.

Stevenson will get beaten eventually if he stays at 135, because he’s got Andy Cruz ranked #1 in the WBC rankings. Abdullah Mason and Jadier Herrera are also ranked in the top 10. Shakur would have to fight them eventually, and they’re bigger, younger, and stronger than him.