World Champion Weighs In On Whether Shakur Stevenson Would Fare Better Than Lamont Roach vs Gervonta Davis

Trainer claims Shakur Stevenson won't do what Lamont Roach did against Gervonta Davis.

IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach became one of the main talking points of the boxing world after the controversial March showdown. Davis took a deliberate knee during the contest but no knockdown was counted. He retained the WBA lightweight title via a majority draw. The pair are expected to engage in a rematch in June.

Another interesting fight that fans have wanted to see for a long time is Gervonta Davis vs Shakur Stevenson. Stevenson is the WBC lightweight champion. They are two different fighters stylistically. Davis is a power puncher while Stevenson is a defensive master.

WBA super lightweight champion Gary Antuanne Russell has now claimed that Stevenson won't do what Roach did against 'Tank', which is stand and trade. Instead, he expects Stevenson to circle around the ring and use his defense. He thinks it will be a boring fight that 'Tank' would edge out as Stevenson wouldn't do much.

Speaking to The Ring, he said:

I believe it's going to be another boring fight but I believe Tank will win. I don't think Shakur will do enough to beat Tank. It will be less exciting than Tank vs. Lamont Roach. Lamont stood in the middle of the ring and exchanged, mano y mano. I believe Shakur is a technician fighter with good defense and takes no risk.

If a person is stronger than him, he's going to keep you right there at bay. He's going to line you up and pick you apart. Tank has good defense, too. A lot of the shots won't land. It would turn into a fight where Tank is the stalker and he's trying to corner Shakur by taking the fight to him. Tank is a slow starter. Shakur is going to be bouncing around, using angles, to make sure he doesn't get hit with a power shot. But I feel that would be dragged out from round one to twelve.

Davis' last fight left a lot to be answered, and many believe Roach should have walked out of the ring with his hand raised. Russell, though, doesn't think so. He thinks to be the champion, you need to beat the champion, which Roach didn't do despite putting on an impressive display.

Lamont Roach represented himself well against Tank and fought better than any other contestant. I feel that Tank is the champion and the main guy and you really have to beat him. He didn't really take the fight from Tank. He was combative. They both started the fight really late though. It wasn't a blowout, and when you beat the champion, I feel that it needs to be a blowout, or have some dominant rounds with knockdowns or stunning punches. But it was none of that. He lasted with Tank.

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