Shakur Stevenson has rubbished claims that he was hurt in sparring by lightweight rival, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Many fans feel like the two American stars are on a collision course at 135lbs. If it plays out like that, it won’t be the first time they’ve traded punches.
Speaking to Say Cheese on sparring with Davis, Stevenson detailed what the session looked like – a quiet gym at 2AM.
“First time sparring again after the Olympics, it was like 2 in the morning. It was on some 2 in the morning s**t. We went like 20 minutes straight I wanna say.
He had like three or four people with him, and I had just Africa – Richardson Hitchins – riding with me. I don’t remember if he had somebody recording. I didn’t record it though, for sure.”
He said that he would have kept the work inside the four walls of the gym had ‘Tank’ not broadcast the details, claiming that he ‘cracked’ Stevenson.
“Sparring was kept in the gym, and then I don’t know what was going on at the point of time that he just felt he felt – and he went on the air and said something funny.”
Given that his partner has spoken of what went down, Stevenson got his side across. He was respectful when talking about the 2017 session, but feels he got the better of the Baltimore boxer.
“If I’m being honest about that sparring session between me and him, it was good work. Two smart fighters. I feel like, if it was a fight, I won. But it was good work. He made me think, I made him think. That’s how I looked at it.
That was before I turned pro. I was an amateur at that time. That was before his world title fight with Jose Pedraza. The one that put him on.”
Asked if ‘Tank’ knocked him down or hurt him, Stevenson said ‘f**k no’ and that he had never been down a day in his life.
Both mean – who are undefeated in their campaigns – are angling at a shot for Devin Haney’s undisputed titles. If Haney decides to move up in weight, they may just face off sooner rather than later.