Shakur Stevenson is convinced that he will eventually separate himself from every lightweight in boxing.
The undefeated two-division champion is scheduled to make his debut at the 135-pound limit April 8, when he’ll encounter Japan’s Shuichiro Yoshino at Prudential Center in Stevenson’s hometown of Newark, New Jersey (ESPN). Stevenson believes one of boxing’s most established lightweights, Gervonta Davis, will knock out rival Ryan Garcia two weeks later in Las Vegas.
“I think Tank’s way too much for Ryan,” Stevenson told BoxingScene.com. “I don’t know how good Ryan is. So, maybe he may shock us and do something crazy. But honestly, Ryan’s not on that level.”
Davis, a powerful southpaw from Baltimore, has knocked out 93 percent of the opponents he has faced as a professional over the past 10 years (28-0, 26 KOs). Garcia – a taller, orthodox opponent – has power, too, but the Victorville, California native has boxed a lower level of opposition overall entering their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event April 22 at T-Mobile Arena.
As much as Stevenson respects Davis’ abilities, he isn’t nearly as certain Davis could defeat Devin Haney, the undisputed lightweight champion. Stevenson also expects Haney, of Henderson, Nevada, to emerge victorious from his showdown with former WBA/WBC/WBO lightweight champ Vasiliy Lomachenko on May 20 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“As far as proving [himself], he has the belts, so you can’t take that away from Devin,” Stevenson said. “But him and Tank, they both great fighters. I can’t say that he’s better than Tank or I can’t say Tank is better than him. We just gotta wait and see.”
It seems unlikely, however, that Davis and Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) will fight anytime soon, even if they defeat Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) and Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) in their respective pay-per-view bouts. The 24-year-old Haney likely will move up to the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds for his following fight.
Regardless, Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) would be in a better position to challenge Haney if the highly skilled southpaw beats Yoshino (16-0, 12 KOs) than Davis if he is victorious against Garcia. Stevenson-Yoshino is a WBC elimination match that’ll determine its next mandatory challenger for one of the four championships Haney holds.
Stevenson, Haney and Lomachenko are all promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. Haney’s three-fight contract with Top Rank will expire after his fight with Lomachenko, though, which could complicate putting together a Haney-Stevenson fight if they both win and Haney were to remain in the lightweight division after facing Lomachenko in their ESPN Pay-Per-View main event.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
