Notebook: Shakur won't allow Tank dream to distract him from Zepeda
Liam Paro returning from title loss in homecoming; Top Rank signs pair of prospects, one age 17, one Olympian; Julio Cesar Martinez set to resume career after PED suspension; Quick hits; Show and tell
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WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson has made no secret that the high-profile fight he really wants is a unification bout with WBA titlist Gervonta “Tank” Davis, one of boxing’s biggest stars and best punchers.
But before that fight ever comes to pass — if it ever does — both fighters have business to attend to. Davis is penciled in for an Aug. 16 immediate rematch with Lamont Roach Jr. following their extremely controversial draw on March 1.
Three-division titlist Stevenson is set to make his third defense against dangerous puncher and extremely aggressive brawler William Zepeda, the interim titleholder and mandatory challenger, on Turki Alalshikh’s Ring magazine card on July 12 (DAZN PPV) at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.
When Stevenson, Zepeda and their teams, along with super middleweight Edgar Berlanga and Hamzah Sheeraz, who meet in a WBC super middleweight eliminator in the main event, kicked off the promotion for the card at a recent news conference in New York, it was Alalshikh who brought up the prospect of Stevenson eventually fighting Davis.
“The eye of Shakur is on ‘Tank,’” Alalshikh said when he called into the presser to give his two cents on the significance of the card and outline what is at stake for the combatants.
When asked about Davis, Stevenson acknowledged his desire for the fight but also said he would in no way take Zepeda lightly.