Shakur Stevenson believes Gervonta Davis’ clash with Lamont Roach is not a foregone conclusion.
Davis defends his WBA lightweight world title against Roach at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on March 1, live on Amazon Prime pay-per-view.
‘Tank’, who is undefeated in 30 professional bouts, is a sizeable favourite with the bookmakers to retain his belt against ‘The Reaper’, who is moving up from 130lbs where he holds the WBA crown.
However, Stevenson insists Roach, who has lost once in his professional career to Jamel Herring and won six on the bounce since, will put up a far better fight than many are anticipating.
“I don’t think it’s going to be an easy night for Tank,” Stevenson told NOTJUSTBOXING.
“Lamont is going to come ready to fight.
“He wants to win. He’s not coming to lay down.
“So I can see it being a very hard night for Tank.
“I’ve known Lamont for a very long time.
“He’s been in this game for a very long time and he’s waiting for this opportunity.
“I sparred him a long time ago and he gave me really good work.
View this post on Instagram
“After that I brung him in to help me for my fight with Oscar Valdez, he kind of helped me at the end of my camp.
“He’s a good fighter.”
The 27-year-old is seeking a clash with Davis himself, but first defends his WBC lightweight crown against Floyd Schofield in Riyadh on Saturday on the undercard of the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Davis, 30, said he would retire from boxing at the end of the year, but Stevenson is convinced that a long-awaited unification clash between the pair will take place.
“It’s going to happen,” the Newark man added.
“Tank said that I was on his list.
“So hopefully he stands on his words and makes the fight happen.”
