Shakur Stevenson has his doubters. The Newark, N.J., native rarely wins in spectacular fashion, and his critics often refer to him as boring. They note he has knocked out fewer than half of his opponents in his professional career, and 10 of his 23 bouts have gone the distance. Furthermore, Stevenson’s detractors argue on social media and in online boxing forums that he has a suspect chin.
Yet, in the face of the chatter, all he does is win.
The 27-year-old, 2016 Rio Olympics bantamweight silver medalist remained undefeated (23-0, 11 KOs) and retained his WBC lightweight title in stopping Josh Padley (15-1, 4 KOs) in the ninth round in their bout this past Saturday at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia. Padley, a product of Doncaster, England, was a replacement opponent for Floyd Schofield, who dropped out of the fight earlier this month due to an illness.
Stevenson made it clear who he wanted to fight next.
“Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis — I think that’s the biggest fight in boxing,’ he said. “Me and him can make the most money if we make this fight happen, so let’s do it.”
On Saturday, Davis (30-0, 28 KOs), arguably America’s most popular boxing champion, will defend his WBA lightweight title against WBA super-featherweight champion Lamont Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Davis, 30, from Baltimore, faced Roach, 29, a Washington, D.C., native, in the amateur ranks.
“I haven’t been watching his fights too much, but I’ve been in the gym with him, and I know how (Roach) moves,” said Davis, who is headlining his fourth card at the Barclays Center. “I’ll get in camp and get up to date on him. I know for sure he’s definitely tough and has sneaky power. He’s had sneaky power since we were kids. We are going to figure out what he’s best at and take it away from him.”
While Davis versus Stevenson is a great match on paper, and Davis will clearly be the A side, he can again attempt to schedule a fight with IBF lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko. In contrast to Stevenson, any fight featuring Davis is appealing because of his remarkable punching power at 135 pounds and his ability to finish opponents, which has made him one of boxing’s major draws.
In last Saturday’s main event, Dmitry Bivol avenged the only loss of his career by besting Artur Beterbiev to win the undisputed light-heavyweight world championship in a rematch of his October loss. Bivol won on a majority score of 115-113, 116-112, and 114-114 in the 12-round bout. It turned out to be the exact scores from the first fight, but this time favoring Bivol. The 30-year-old Russian fighter (24-1, 12 KOs) now owns wins over Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs), who also hails from Russia, and 34-year-old Mexican superstar Canelo Álvarez, who he defeated in 2022.
“The difference was me; I was better,” Bivol said about the margin of victory. “I was pushing myself more. I was more confident and lighter, and I just wanted to win so much today.”
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