Shakur Stevenson: Me & Tank, Later On Down The Line, Will Be An Amazing Fight

ATLANTA – Shakur Stevenson intends to add three more 130-pound championship belts to his collection now that he has won the WBO junior lightweight title from Jamel Herring.

The talented Newark, New Jersey, native reiterated early Sunday morning that he wants a 130-pound championship unification fight against unbeaten WBC champ Oscar Valdez next. A bout between Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs) and Mexico’s Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) should be easy to put together because both boxers are promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc.

Venezuela’s Roger Gutierrez (26-3-1, 20 KOs), who is represented by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, owns the WBA super featherweight title. The IBF junior lightweight title is unclaimed.

However his future at 130 pounds plays out, Stevenson expects that the biggest fights for him will take place within the lightweight division. The 24-year-old Stevenson is intrigued by the thought of fights against such contemporaries as Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, Gervonta Davis, Joseph Diaz Jr. and Ryan Garcia.

One of those high-profile fights interests Stevenson more than all the others, though.

“Big, big fight, I gotta be honest with you – I think all of them guys is really good,” Stevenson said during his post-fight press conference at State Farm Arena, where he dominated Herring (23-3, 11 KOs) on his way to a 10th-round stoppage. “Like it’s Devin, Teo, Tank, Jo Jo, Ryan. It’s gonna be big fights between all of them, so I can’t pick a specific [opponent]. But I will say like me and Tank, later on down the line, will be an amazing fight.”

Whereas Stevenson is fresh off an image-enhancing performance against Herring, Davis is preparing for a 12-round grudge match against Rolando “Rolly” Romero. Baltimore’s Davis (25-0, 24 KOs) and Romero (14-0, 12 KOs), of North Las Vegas, Nevada, will fight for Davis’ WBA secondary lightweight title in the headliner of a Showtime Pay-Per-View event December 5 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Davis has held a WBA belt within the 130-pound division, but the three-division champion most recently stopped San Antonio’s Mario Barrios (26-1, 17 KOs) in the 11th round of a WBA 140-pound title fight June 26, also at State Farm Arena. He has dropped back down to the lightweight limit of 135 pounds for the Romero bout, but the powerful southpaw might not be willing to try to get all the way down to 130 pounds, even for a fight versus Stevenson.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.