Gervonta Davis’ lifelong trainer understands fans want to see his powerful, skillful southpaw oppose the best lightweights in boxing now that Davis has knocked out Ryan Garcia.
Calvin Ford urged them to be patient because business will dictate who Davis fights later this year and in 2024. The Showtime Pay-Per-View event headlined by Davis-Garcia generated approximately 1.2 million buys in the United States and produced $22.8 million in ticket sales at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
That strengthened Davis’ status as boxing’s biggest draw among American fighters and will enable the 28-year-old knockout artist to fight who he wants, when he wants. After facing an undefeated, popular rival who was affiliated with a competing promoter (Golden Boy) and platform (DAZN), Davis more than likely will box an opponent also affiliated with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions the next time he headlines a Showtime Pay-Per-View view card.
Ford nevertheless hopes Davis eventually receives the opportunity to fight Devin Haney – the sport’s undefeated, undisputed lightweight champion – and Shakur Stevenson, both of whom are commonly considered among boxing’s top 10, pound-for-pound. To make either of those pay-per-view events a reality, however, Ford feels Haney and Stevenson will need to prove themselves from a business standpoint to justify the purses they’ll demand to fight Davis (29-0, 27 KOs).
“These fights are gonna happen,” Ford told BoxingScene.com. “They just gotta continue doing what they need to do to get their numbers up, to make it make sense. That’s what people don’t understand. ‘Aw, make the fight. Make the fight. Make the fight.’ You’ve gotta deal with the network. Both of them guys [Haney and Stevenson] are on the other side of the fence, so it’ll have to make sense to their team to ask for the event. You know what I’m saying? Tank is proven. He’s proven that he can do what he did.
“Again, it has to make sense to everybody. We know that when they sit down at the table, they’re gonna look at what you did. They’re gonna look at your actuals. Do it make sense to make that fight? Or, if you say you really want that fight, take the offer and beat the man. [Tank is] the man.”
The 24-year-old Haney will headline his first pay-per-view show May 20, when he’ll defend his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 135-pound championships versus Vasiliy Lomachenko at MGM Grand Garden Arena. If Haney (29-0, 15 KOs), who will become a promotional free agent after facing Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs), wins that bout, Ford doesn’t think he would be capable of defeating Davis as well.
“In my book, I don’t think Haney has got anything that could really stop Tank,” Ford said. “You know, he hasn’t shown me anything where I’d go, ‘Woooo!’ You understand what I’m saying?”
Davis stated during his post-fight press conference Saturday night that Haney should focus on conquering Lomachenko, but battling the winner would afford Davis the opportunity to become boxing’s fully unified lightweight champion. Ford will also keep a close eye on the Haney-Lomachenko clash.
“I’m hoping that he beats Lomachenko,” said Ford, who trains Davis along with Kenny Ellis. “I would love for him to beat Lomachenko. But I know if Lomachenko has the belts, it’s bigger. He’s bringing a country [Ukraine] with him. The reality is that [Davis-Lomachenko] fight was supposed to be, in my book, a Godzilla fight. Because he’s got good numbers here and he’s got great numbers abroad. … We just have to wait and see how it unfolds with them guys [Haney and Lomachenko], wait till we get that guy that’s touted as that guy, where the fans say, ‘We wanna see that fight.’ ”
Ford also acknowledged Stevenson’s emergence in the 135-pound division. The highly skilled southpaw from Newark, New Jersey has won world titles in the featherweight and junior lightweight divisions, but he dominated Japanese contender Shuichiro Yoshino (16-1, 12 KOs) on his way to winning his lightweight debut by sixth-round technical knockout April 8 at Prudential Center in Newark.
Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) has drawn crowds of over 10,000 for each of his last two fights at Prudential Center, but he hasn’t headlined a pay-per-view show.
“Shakur does have value,” Ford said. “Shakur don’t have no belts, but Haney didn’t really do anything different from Shakur. When you look at Shakur, Shakur is more that guy than Haney. Haney just has the belts, that’s all. He had a better opportunity. You know? That’s all.”
Haney, of Henderson, Nevada, soundly defeated George Kambosos Jr. on points in back-to-back bouts before he agreed to fight Lomachenko. If Lomachenko beats Haney, the Ukrainian southpaw could face Stevenson later this year because both boxers are promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc.
“[Stevenson is] one of them guys and he’s making moves toward that fight [with Davis],” Ford said. “He came up from 130 to 135, had his first fight at 135. We have to see what’s next for him, what they’re gonna do to make him more marketable.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.