Perhaps 30 straight wins with 28 knockouts are not enough. Perhaps Gervonta Davis needs to pull off something truly extraordinary. Only then might Claressa Shields change her views about him. Otherwise, the newly crowned heavyweight champion feels that the Baltimorean is a notch below his New Jersey-born colleague, Shakur Stevenson. Increasing reports suggest that talks for a lightweight title unification between the two champions could be in the offing. It follows the collapse of the tentative fight between Gervonta Davis and Vasyl Lomachenko.

Unsurprisingly, talks are already swirling over who will emerge as the winner if a fight eventually materializes. Both Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis recently secured wins. The Olympic silver medalist emerged successful from his first title defense against Artem Harutyunyan early this month. ‘Tank’, on the other hand, defeated Frank Martin to retain his lightweight championship. It’s time to talk about title unification and greater glory.

The ‘GWOAT’s ode to the defensive genius of Shakur Stevenson

Claressa Shields was speaking with ‘Cigar Talk’ host ‘Naji Chill’. She shared her thoughts on Ryan Garcia and the whole scandal surrounding him. Then she also gave her two cents on women’s sports. After the half-hour mark, the host asked her about the criticism that Shakur needs to work on his knockout skills.

Shields disagreed with the notion. In her view, there’s no need for Stevenson to prove himself to anyone, especially those who have never been inside a ring. The two-time Olympic gold medalist revealed that she had watched Shakur Stevenson take on boxers, not only from his weight class but a few from other divisions right up to light heavyweights.

“Shakur is the best,” she said, insisting, “to me, he’s better than ‘Tank’. He’s better than Devin, [and] he’s better than Ryan. He’s better than Teofimo.” ‘Naji Chill’ then asked the million-dollar question about a potential lineup against ‘Tank’ Davis. He shared how both got peeved off when he suggested that the fight sit in the middle, not tilting on either side.

Claressa Shields replied, “I’m not gonna ever like, dismiss a fighter; like, I seen that ‘Tank’ got some great skills and got some hard-a** punches. Like he’s so explosive. But so is Shakur. Shakur has, to me, faced harder challenges than ‘Tank’.” Then she went on with a detailed elaboration.

Laying out the kind of records and the fighting style of some of his opponents, Shields, gave the instance when Shakur Stevenson went against the powerful Namibian, Jeremiah Nakathila. On the other hand, Gervonta Davis, in her strong opinion, cannot go around and spread the word that he is the best after knocking out the likes of Ryan Garcia and Rolando Romero. All in all, neither of the two would ever last in the ring if pitted against Stevenson.

Skills Against Odds

She acknowledged ‘Tank’ Davis’ skills and power. But the fact remains that Shakur Stevenson “is getting hit; he’s getting hit 5% with shots, like he’s getting whatever shots you throw, [but] only 5% of them landing…when you only getting hit 5% 6%, I’m just rocking with Shakur for that fight.”

According to the Flint, Michigan-born undisputed champion, when the time presents an opportunity, Shakur Stevenson is very smart. He is very capable of changing his style, making it much faster and stronger. In her strong viewpoint, Shakur Stevenson rather deserved the Olympic gold medal instead of the silver that he received after losing the bout to the Cuban Robeisy Ramirez.

A fight between ‘Tank’ Davis and Shakur Stevenson remains one of the most sought-after duels in the boxing narrative. If it comes up, fulfilling a thousand dreams, then Claressa Shields’ assessment could be put to the real test, given that Stevenson will be facing one of the ‘faces of boxing’.

What are your thoughts on Claressa Shields’s opinions on Shakur Stevenson? Do you agree that he might be a better boxer than Gervonta Davis?