Gervonta Davis may not be interested in fighting Shakur Stevenson or might not even believe Stevenson deserves the fight. But Terence Crawford—Stevenson’s longtime friend and training partner—sees it as the biggest matchup there is. This comes amid a heated public exchange between Davis and Crawford.

The debate over a potential Davis-Stevenson showdown has been ongoing for years. Stevenson, the reigning WBC lightweight champion, is set to face England’s undefeated last-minute replacement, Josh Padley, on the undercard of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, ‘Tank’ Davis is scheduled to defend his WBA lightweight title against Lamont Roach Jr. on March 1 in Brooklyn. Both Stevenson and Davis have long been considered among the best in the lightweight division, yet Davis has repeatedly dismissed the idea of facing Stevenson. Still, even the legendary Mike Tyson has weighed in on the potential bout with high praise.

“Wow, that’s a good fight. I’m going with Tank. It would be a very interesting fight. To bring out the best in Shakur, you gotta pressure him like Tank. Tank will bring out the best in him. Tank is just a monster,” Tyson said on the It Is What It Is podcast. Crawford seems to share that enthusiasm.

According to a tweet from Boxing Kingdom, “Terence Crawford has told multiple media outlets this week that he is confident Shakur Stevenson will beat Gervonta Davis when they fight. Shakur Stevenson has also informed his team to try to make the Gervonta fight next, provided he defeats Josh Padley tonight.”

Interestingly enough, it’s not just Tyson and Crawford who want this fight to happen!

Turki Alalshikh wants to make Shakur Stevenson vs. Gervonta Davis

Turki Alalshikh has expressed his desire to make a high-profile showdown between WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis and WBC titleholder Shakur Stevenson. Despite past tensions with Davis, Alalshikh made it clear that personal differences won’t interfere with business. “I don’t need to like you to talk with you,” he told ESPN.

Meanwhile, Stevenson will fight Josh Padley on February 22 after his original opponent, Floyd Schofield Jr., withdrew. Alalshikh praised Davis but urged him to take on bigger challenges, saying, “He is a great fighter of course. No doubt about this. But we need to see him in big fights more and more.” A Davis-Stevenson bout would be a major event in boxing, with Terence Crawford naming Stevenson as one of the few who could potentially defeat Davis.

That said, it appears the only hurdle in making the fight between Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson is Davis. It’s unclear whether Davis would ever change his mind, but Stevenson and the fans don’t seem to want to back out from wanting it. Do you think Davis is afraid of Stevenson?