Shakur Stevenson said in an interview this week that he wants a fight against Vasily Lomachenko more than ever, suggesting that he’s concerned about his chances of success against his original target, Gervonta Davis.
Surprisingly, Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) is targeting a fight against IBF lightweight champion Lomachenko because he’s been on the campaign trail lately, trying to build himself as a candidate to fight the Face of Boxing Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Stevenson Recognizes His Limitations
For Shakur, 27, suddenly reversing course and selecting Lomachenko as the one he wants suggests that he doesn’t feel like he’s up to fight Tank Davis. Shakur would be badly overmatched against a killer puncher like Tank Davis. That goes without saying.
It’s good that Shakur knows his limitations because Tank is all wrong for him right now due to the massive punching power he possesses, and he could mess up his career with a single headshot. If Shakur wants to hold onto his WBC lightweight title and milk it for as long as possible to make easy money, he’s got the right idea by focusing on guys like Lomachenko.
“I like Lomachenko. I seen him at the fights and he was trying to do a lot of publicity stuff… drawing a crowd and making a scene, it just seems like he don’t want to fight me,” said Shakur to the N3ON YouTube channel about wanting to fight Vasily Lomachenko.
Shakur doesn’t possess the offensive armament to take on a fighter of Tank Davis’ level because they’re so far apart in power and ability. The New Jersey native Shakur is designed more to fight pure boxers with an amateur style like his, and preferably ones with no power.
Lomachenko, 36, is ideal for Shakur because he has the amateur style, and he’s not guy that would punch holes through him the way Tank Davis, William Zepeda or Abdullah Mason would do.
Hearn Confirms Cordina Talks
Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed on Friday that talks are underway for a fight between Shakur and former IBF super featherweight champion Joe Cordina next. Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) is a big puncher, too, but he’s coming off an eighth-round knockout loss to Anthony Cacace last May. So, he’s vulnerable and not a big threat to beating Shakur like Tank Davis or some of the other big punchers in the 135-lb division.
It’s still a dangerous fight for Shakur because Cordina possesses one-punch power, as we saw in his second-round knockout win over Kenichi Ogawa in 2022. That wasn’t that long ago, and Cordina hasn’t changed in the power department and can do big-time damage to Shakur if he connects with one of his powerful right hands.
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