Stevenson can assert himself into ‘Tank’ talks by shining tonight

Even though negotiations between representatives for Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko are in progress, Shakur Stevenson has an opportunity to interrupt the conversation.

On Friday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “Deep Waters,” analyst and former welterweight world champion Shawn Porter said the unbeaten, three-division champion Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) can sharply raise the calls for a showdown with Davis with a convincing Saturday night victory.

In his final fight with promoter Top Rank, Stevenson, 27, meets Armenia’s Artem Harutyunyan (12-1, 7 KOs) in a hometown bout at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on ESPN.

“I know everyone is talking about a Lomachenko vs. ‘Tank’ Davis fight, but that fight is past its time,” Porter said in a reference to Lomachenko’s age (36) and his two losses to Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney.

“Lomachenko is just not the fighter he was five years ago when everyone started talking about Lomachenko and ‘Tank’ fighting. And ‘Tank’ wasn’t who he was five years ago.”

That’s what makes now the ideal intersection of careers for the 29-year-old three-division champion Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) and Stevenson.

“Both guys are ready. Shakur’s got everything to beat Artem, and I expect him to look good doing it,” Porter said. “I think (Davis) is next for him.”

The momentum for Davis to fight Stevenson was diminished by Stevenson’s inactive WBC lightweight title victory over Edwin De Los Santos in November.

And Porter’s fellow analyst, former 140-pound champion Chris Algieri, said it’s imperative that if Stevenson has any hope in delivering “the fight we all want,” he must realize it’s about “the fight that’s in front of him … it’s not about winning or losing, but how he looks.”

Algieri assessed, “I feel Shakur is going to try to get (Harutyunyan) out of there, which would be a big statement.”

Recent lightweight title challenger Frank Martin could not finish Harutyunyan, and their scorecards were narrow.

“Artem, stylistically, can make Shakur look good, and Shakur should take that opportunity because he’s in a position right now where that end-goal of a fight with ‘Tank’ Davis is within reach,” Algieri said.