Shakur Stevenson said this week that he will not fight his best friend, Keyshawn Davis, regardless of the money he is offered. The WBC lightweight champion says he and Keyshawn used to go to the gym when they were young and beat different fighters. He sat close.

Stevenson says he and Keyshawn will “Take over boxing.” So far, none of these fighters have shown that they are at the top of the game. Shakur has a classic, slow Mayweather on his last legs, and Keyshawn has a similar look.

Fat Bully?

The difference with Keyshawn Davis (12-0, 8 KOs) is that he is big for the lightweight division and arguably should fight at 147 and not 135. He looks great for lightweight. If Keyshawn were to fight where he is at welterweight against killers like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennishis work would not be valuable.

Keyshawn’s promoters at Top Rank probably wouldn’t agree to let him fight Boots because his chances of winning would be non-existent, and their investment in his career would be wasted.

Fighting against smaller, bigger guys in the lightweight division, Keyshawn has a chance at a young age to become a professional but not a star. If he goes where he should fight at welterweight, then he is food for the fighters.

“When we were riding, Keyshawn and I would go to every gym, and we’d be whipping a**. We used to go to the gym and hit (batters) regularly,” Shakur Stevenson told Cigar Talk’s. YouTube way to explain why he won’t wrestle Keyshawn Davis.

“Every gym. Like the top. When I went to spar Lomachenko, Keyshawn was there beating the Olympic gold medalist. Keyshawn was always with me. When you get to that level, we knew this day would come.

“It was a matter of time. We knew we could both beat (the fighters) * * and take the boxing game. Now, the fans want and want to see us fight,” Shakur said of fans starting to push to see him and Keyshawn fight in divisions that don’t have top name fighters.

Undefeated, Untested

Keyshawn failed in the 2020 Olympics, losing to Andy Cruz of Cuba. It was not a close fight. As good as it gets, Keyshawn and Shakur haven’t beaten the top hitters. Shakur has beaten many washed up fighters old and young, Oscar Valdez and Jamel Herring, but he has never faced anyone at a higher level. That’s why he was chosen to protect Floyd Schofield. Shakur is desperate.

They call out Vasily Lomachenko and Gervonta Davis, but they don’t get anything from the fighters. One explanation for this is Stevenson’s boring style. He is constantly booed by the fans whenever he fights, and has no following outside of his hometown of Newark, New Jersey.

Keyshawn hasn’t fought anyone of his caliber in his time and has shown interest in getting back his four losses to Andy Cruz. He seems to be interested in taking the easy way out, challenging WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk next month on February 14th. Davis says he believes a fight with WBA champion Gervonta Davis will happen after he wins the WBO title. That sounds like a pipe dream.

“It’s not about the money,” Shakur said when told that Turki Al-Sheikh would probably pay him and Keyshawn more money to fight. “It’s not about money. I’m not one of those (fighters) that the money makes for me, bro.”

It’s too bad Shakur doesn’t want to fight his friend, Keyshawn, because that could be his best shot at a big fight in the lightweight category. Unless Turki gives Tank Davis mega-millions, this fight won’t happen for Stevenson. IBF lightweight champion Vasily Lomachenko probably won’t fight Shakur again because he’s about to turn 37, and he doesn’t want to fight athletes at the end of his career. If he was younger, Loma would have fought this battle in a second. Now, however, it seems unlikely.

If you take Tank and Lomachenko out of the equation, Keyshawn is the only one left for Shakur. There’s William Zepeda, but he’s not going to give Shakur the payday that a fight against Loma and Gervonta would.

Keyshawn’s Best Career Wins

– Gustavo Lemos: *’5’4″ benched 140-lb fighter
– Nahir Albright: * Scissors win for Keyshawn. Painful in struggle
– Miguel Madueno: * The fight looked like a WWE fight
– Jose Pedraza: *35 years old, young and past his prime