A bunch of reporters reached out to former two-division world champion Timothy Bradley. If at all a fight comes up, they wanted to know his thoughts on Shakur Stevenson‘s chances against Gervonta Davis. Next month, on July 6, Stevenson will enter the ring for his first title defense. He will be facing Armenian-German boxer Artem Harutyunyan. Davis, on the other hand, defeated Frank Martin in the way he prefers the most—an early stoppage. The Baltimorean returned over a year after KO’ing Ryan Garcia.
Ever since the June 15 victory, talks have been emerging of a potential fight between ‘Tank’ Davis and IBF title holder Vasyl Lomachenko. If at all their fight materializes, most believe that the Baltimorean will continue with his winning streak against the 36-year-old Olympic gold medalist. So there’s a chance that Gervonta Davis may further proceed with his title unification campaign. Hence, the move might witness him staking a claim at Shakur Stevenson’s WBC belt. Nevertheless, there remains a question that has seemingly rattled many fans. Whether the Newark-born southpaw has the wherewithal to be the first boxer to derail the ‘Tank’ from his track. When checked with ‘Tim’ Bradley, he seems to believe that Stevenson can accomplish the feat with relative ease.
‘Tank’ to fail in front of ‘Sugar’-coated walls
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The conversation started when one of the reporters asked Timothy Bradley whether he had any pieces of advice for Shakur Stevenson ahead of his fight against Artem Harutyunyan. The former world champion replied in the negative. “Shakur don’t need me to give him any wisdom. Shakur that guy, man and call it whatever you want to call it, uh, he ain’t going to be with Top Rank whatever y’all want to say, you know you hate this, not he don’t need me to say what he needs to do,” said ‘The Desert Storm.
In his frank opinion, Shakur Stevenson already knows what steps he needs to take. He has been closely monitoring ‘Tank’ Davis. His ultimate goal is to be the best boxer in the 135-pound division. So after the July 6 fight, he might go back to the drawing board. After refocusing, he might then come back fully charged and show the world what he is made of.
“Trust me, he will you know he has that in him dog he’s different cut from a different cloth,” said ‘Tim’ Bradley. Another reporter asked, “Is he’s the one to beat he’s the one to beat Tank do you think?” Bradley promptly responded, “Yeah, yeah.” Laughter emerged in the background. Probably an onlooker or a reporter found that funny. But it only stirred up the former two-division champion.
He said, “Call call me hate. I don’t give a damn. Yeah, y keep coming at me. Keep bringing that hate. Keep bringing that hate, baby. I love it. Keep bringing it. Yes, he beats Tank. He outboxes him very easily, no problem whatsoever.”
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Shakur Stevenson vs. Gervonta Davis: A fight for legacy
Shakur Stevenson was speaking with Jeff Zimmerman from FightHype. The lightweight champion asserted that a fight between him and ‘Tank’ would be a modern-day Roberto Duran and ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard fight. It will not be the Tommy Hearn and ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard clash, as Zimmerman suggested. He remained quite assured on winning against the Baltimorean. He said, “But I’m 100% sure that I’m win, so we’ll see once the day line up.”
A line-up between ‘Sugar’ and Gervonta Davis is undoubtedly a line-up in the minds of most fans. For the former, the fight presents a great chance to announce his presence in the Big Boy League. Let’s say he loses the battle to Davis. As many of the observers have seen, boxers who lose their fights to ‘Tank’ end up making big subsequently. Perhaps if he doesn’t get lucky in the big fight, then there’s always the alternative to move up a division and build his legacy with higher paydays.
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What’s your take on Timothy Bradly’s opinion of Shakur Stevenson’s winnability against ‘Tank’ Davis? Or do you believe the latter would just roll over the competition like he has done so many times and become a unified champion?