Shakur Stevenson whined today about fan favorites Gervonta Davis and William Zepeda not wanting to fight him. Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) says he thinks both of them are scared to fight him, and he takes that as a moral victory rather than his poisonous style making him unworthy of a fight.

Obsessed With Tank

WBC lightweight champion Shakur claims that Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) isn’t on his level and that he’ll beat him when they do eventually fight. Davis hasn’t said he’ll give Shakur a chance to fight him. Stevenson seems so needy and clingy that it’s off putting for Tank, who can see that the Newark native has done nothing to increase his popularity by engaging more with his opponents. It’s scary the wahy Shakur is fixated on Tank.

Moreover, Shakur won’t move up to 140 and 147 to get the essential sights that he needs to become popular. He won’t fight Ernesto Mercado, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, or Vergil Ortiz Jr. If he were to beat two or three of those guys, his popularity would go through the roof, and he’d have no problems getting Tank to agree to fight him.

The main problem is that Stevenson has never fought anyone notable during his eight-year professional career to raise his name with the fans. When he faced opposition with power, fans booed him out of the arenas in his fights against Edwin De Los Santos, Jeremiah Nakathilia, and Joet Gonzalez.

Shakur’s Fights at 135

Artem Harutyunyan: UD 12
Edin De Los Santos: UD 12
Shuichiro Yoshino: TKO 6

“My issue with Lomachenko is he went and grabbed a belt. You’re just in the way. You don’t want to fight nobody,” said Shakur Stevenson to Ring Magazine, complaining about Vasily Lomachenko not wanting to fight him.

You can say the same thing about Shakur. He’s ignored the callouts from Ernesto Mercado and is not interested in fighting Andy Cruz, Raymond Muratalla, or Abdullah Mason. Shakur is a hypocrite. Lomachenko has done more in his professional career than Shakur, who beat no one at 126, 130 and looked poor against his toughest opponent at 135 against De Los Santos. He ran from him all night and then blamed his performance on being injured.

“Anything can happen,” said Shakur when asked if a fight between him and Gervonta Davis can happen. “What Turki is doing for boxing is amazing. He’s making the biggest fights possible, the biggest fights available. If that fight can’t happen, somebody has got to be scared. That’s what it comes down to.

“He goes out there and disses me all the time, speaking bad about my name,” said Stevenson about Tank Davis. “If you feel that way about me, about “I didn’t do this for the sport of boxing,’ as you stated, then fight me. Why is it you go fight these guys that haven’t done nothing for the sport of boxing, haven’t accomplished things that I accomplished. Then you go out there and say, ‘He hasn’t done nothing.’ What have you done for the sport of boxing? You’re not fighting  said Shakur about Gervonta.

Stevenson’s World Title Wins

Edwin De Los Santos: WBC vacant 135-lb title
Oscar Valdez: WBC 130-lb
Jamel Herring: WBO 130-lb title
Joet Gonzalez: WBO 126-lb title

“I think that fight would capture the imagination of the world,” Shakur continued about his desire to fight Tank Davis. “I think that’s the biggest fight in the world. Anywhere,” said Stevenson, saying that a fight between him and Gervonta could happen anywhere in the world.

Stevenson is way off with how he sees a fight between him and Tank Davis being looked at by fans. It’s not going to be the “Biggest fight in the world” because Shakur isn’t popular and has a boring style. There isn’t anyone at 135 that has a big enough fan base to make a fight against Gervonta a huge one that would get fans around the world interested. The division lacks popular fighters outside of Tank.

“I know what it is. Even though he tries to diss me and talk about me all the time, I’m not that guy. I’m going to keep it real, tell the truth, and speak my peace,” said Shakur about Gervonta. “I think he’s [Tank] a tremendous fighter. His boxing ability is insane. His IQ, footwork, power, and the way he sets up shots. I love his boxing style. Do I think he can beat me? No.

“Do I think he’s on my level? No. I think I’m way better than him, but there’s only one way to find out. We got to get in the ring with each other. I’d be willing to go to 140 for the right fight. I’m a 135-pounder right now,” said Shakur when asked if he’d be interested in moving up to light welterweight if he can’t get the fight against Tank Davis.

It doesn’t matter what Shakur thinks about him being above Tank Davis, because the fans view Gervonta as being the better fighter. They see Shakur as being no match against Tank, and will just be running the entire fight, trying to survive like he did in his boo-filled match against Edwin De Los Santos. Shakur almost lost that fight because his refusal to engage. It would be much worse if Tank Davis fought him.

Anyway, it’s obvious why Stevenson is begging for a fight against Davis. He just wants that massive, life-changing payday to set him up for life. He can then move away from Newark, New Jersey, to purchase an apartment in Manhattan or Upper East Side in New York. Shakur hasn’t won a fight against Tank Davis by beating Andy Cruz, William Zepeda, Raymond Muratalla, or Abdullah Mason. What Tank should do is tell Shakur that he must beat those four fighters along with his good friend, Keyshawn Davis.

“I’m comfortable at 135. It’s easy. This is my weight class. I am, trust me,” said Shakur when told that he was ‘taking over’ the 135-lb division. “I would love to fight [William] Zepeda, but it seems like he’s so scared. It’s excuse after excuse after excuse. It’s like, do you ever want the opportunity? I’ve never seen a guy be my mandatory challenger, and he’s not screaming my name. Why am I the champion when I’m the guy who’s chasing after my mandatory challenger? That don’t even make sense. I never even seen that before,” said Shakur about William Zepeda.

Why would Zepeda want to fight Shakur when he knows he’s going to be playing tag, and running around the ring? With that style, Stevenson can land two or three shots, and then run for the remainder of the rounds to win. Zepeda is a profession,al and he’s not going to want to fight a guy who still uses an amateur style.

It’s not surprising that Shakur wants no part in moving up to 140 to fight the killers in that weight class. If he were to fight in that division, it would have to be against Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez. Those are fights that would pay tons of money. So, it wouldn’t matter if he lost.

“It’s supposed to be the #1 guy, ‘Yo, I want to fight this guy,” said Shakur about Zepeda.

The reason Zepeda isn’t pushing for a fight against Shakur is because he’s not popular, and is a runner that gets booed out of his fights. If they offer Zepeda enough money, he’ll take the fight with Shakur, but he’s not going to agree to take the match for chump change, knowing that he’s going to have to chase him all night.

“He should have that confidence but do he?” said Shakur about Zepeda. “I’m taking off my belt that night. I’m going to spank him.”