Rare is the moment in boxing when two supremely talented fighters are in their 20s, unbeaten, three-division champions, and free to fight each other.
Lightweight champions Gervonta Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) and Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) are. Days after the veteran IBF lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko withdrew from talks to fight Baltimore’s Davis, the popular power puncher needs a big fight just as Newark’s Stevenson has become a free agent.
“This is boxing’s version of the lie-detector test,” veteran trainer Teddy Atlas said on ProBox TV’s “Deep Waters.” “If [they don’t fight], somebody’s lying.”
BoxingScene learned that representatives of Davis and Stevenson have conducted at least one preliminary discussion over the topic of a dream fight between two of America’s most gifted fighters.
Stevenson’s co-manager Josh Dubin told BoxingScene that “phone lines are open” to negotiate the financial terms that will ultimately determine whether the bout happens.
“What is the obstacle now?” asked “Deep Waters” analyst, former 140lbs world champion Chris Algieri.
Atlas agreed, informing that if either fighter withdraws, saying they were “not giving me the money I want”, then, “You didn’t really want it”.
Former welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi implored: “This is the true 50-50 fight. People are divided down the middle on this. This is the fight to make.”
As for who needs the bout most, Algieri said that Stevenson can use it more following back-to-back bouts where fans left early because of the inactivity of his evasive, defensive style.
“Shakur needs all the top guys… if he can do to [them] what he’s done to the others, he is the best in the division,” Algieri said.
One 135lbs champion who’s trending downwards is Lomachenko, who opted to return to war-torn Ukraine with his family rather than fight Davis. His promoter Bob Arum said that he expressed an interest in returning during the first quarter of 2025. Lomachenko turns 37 on February 17.
“I thought the match [with Davis] would be really interesting,” Algieri said. “Lomachenko is so tactical; so strategic. Yes, long in the tooth. How would he match up with the wits of ‘Tank’ Davis? Lomachenko would push ‘Tank’ in ways we haven’t seen.”
Amid some criticism on social media of Lomachenko for a perception he is avoiding Davis, the cast rose to his defense, knowing the explanation for the withdrawal is rooted in wanting to be home with his family.
“It upsets me that we even have to defend a guy like Lomachenko, who’s always sought out the best like a heat-seeking missile,” Atlas said. “I wanted to see [Lomachenko-Davis] when they were both in their prime. It would be a test of wills – whose will would bend first? – but now Lomachenko is older.”
Algieri agreed this is not a “duck.”
“We’ve got to give him respect,” he said. “I remember being a 36-year-old boxer. If you’re not ready to train, other stuff’s going on in your life and you have an opportunity to take a step back, I get it.”
If there was blame for the fight vanishing, Malignaggi aimed it at Davis for not jumping at the fight three-to-five years ago.
“I don’t think ‘Tank’ wants all the smoke,” he said. “He was wanting a [36]-year-old,” Malignaggi said. “Now’s your chance to show [you] want all the smoke. Shakur Stevenson is a free agent, a phone call away.
“I’m looking forward to ‘Tank’ wanting all the smoke now because he could’ve fought Lomachenko at 26. He never mentioned Lomachenko’s name back then.”