Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis may be the self-proclaimed face of boxing, but he still has more to prove, according to his trainer.
Calvin Ford, the man who helped guide Davis to defeating Ryan Garcia in their Las Vegas mega-fight last weekend, wants Tank to keep his feet on the ground and take on the greatest challenges out there.
“We still have more that we have to prove. … Only three are considered that good, Devin, Shakur and Lomachenko,” Ford told Boxing Junkie.
“Who’s the best one? We won’t know until they’re standing in front of each other.”
The stoppage win over Garcia has elevated the profile of Davis to another level and the success of the event’s pay-per-view sales and ticket gate proves what can happen when the best fights are made.
Shakur Stevenson has already called for a fight against Davis. Whether that is the immediate plans for both lightweights remains to be seen. The former dipped his toes into the waters at 135lbs with a sparkling performance against Shuichiro Yoshino a few weeks ago. That sixth-round stoppage was arguably as good as the 25-year-old has ever looked.
Ford gave his own opinion of Stevenson.
“Shakur is good [against] the guys he’s been in front of. Tank has been doing it against guys that people think he shouldn’t have been able to do it and he makes it look easy. That’s your stepping stone, how good you look in front of certain guys.
“Stevenson, no question, has the pedigree but it’s how you look against a guy when you have the same pedigree.”
Davis against Stevenson, Haney or Lomachenko does big business and are exactly the kind of fights that the Tank needs to maintain his ascent to greatness. Ford says the time is now to make them happen.
“Tank has to ask himself, ‘Do you want to be an all-time great?’ These are the guys you have to knock off to be an all-time great.”
