Gervonta Davis vs Shakur Stevenson: Stevenson ‘won’t take’ Tank fight despite Zepeda delay

Shakur Stevenson is running short of suitors.

The American fighter wants to stay active and prove his credentials and show the world he has what it takes because of his highly regarded technical skills. He had an explosive boxer in William Zepeda as an option to bolster his resume and boost his PPV star image. However, that’s not the case anymore. After screening out one more legend of the boxing world, the WBC lightweight has finally had his pick.

‘Sugar’ went on a rant when he admitted that his fight with Zepeda, 28, wasn’t in the works anymore. He also admitted that he had approached Vasyl Lomachenko, but the IBF champion declined the shot at unification. Stevenson, at 22-0, revealed in one of the posts, “Loma just recently said no Again.”

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He then stressed the fighters’ agency to take the fights, cutting across the promotions, and continued, “whatever gone get me paid the most and make the most sense I’m down!” This came after Stevenson, 27, had turned to his social media handle and disclosed that Zepeda had pushed back the date. It was already clear thatOscar De La Hoya and Zepeda, at 31-0, had other options too, and it could be a stylistically tough fight for the latter. So, Golden Boy Promotions and Zepeda pushed the fight. But the fight was still on and since he wanted to stay active in between, Stevenson picked up Joe Cordina.

The lightweight champion wrote in one post, “Zepeda pushed it back The fight will happen in February.” In another separate post, he pointed out the past weight cut issues of Cordina, 32, but praised him as a fighter and again highlighted Zepeda’s reluctance to take up the fight. Stevenson added, “Zepeda don’t want to fight just yet so whoever it is gone be they gone get this work.”

Zepeda pushed it back The fight will happen in February https://t.co/rVIFsdxibb

— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) August 16, 2024

This development might come as a blow to Stevenson’s fans, who wanted him to exchange punches with an aggressive fighter. The 2016 Olympics medalist first chased a fight with Gervonta Davis and then made peace with Zepeda as an alternative. But with the Mexican fighter out of frame, he is again back to square one. But all is not lost.

Eddie Hearn recently laid down the path for Stevenson to bag the ‘Tank’ fight. And it goes through Zepeda. It would adjust him to an aggressive and volume punching style and help set up the fight with Davis. He told Cigar Talks, “If I’m Shakur, I chase the [William Zepeda] fight. I keep building my brand into the ‘Tank’ fight next year.”

It remains to be seen whether it happens or not, as Stevenson is still avoided at 135. While he is coming off a win against Artem Harutyunyan, it wasn’t a comprehensive win. He has the uphill task of stacking up the resume and ironing out his orthodox and technical style with some flair.