Andre Ward says Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis needs to start being in “50-50” fights where fans don’t know if he will win after his April match-up against Ryan Garcia.
Ward feels that Tank Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) needs to be matched up against guys like Shakur Stevenson in “50-50” type fights for the sake of his legacy.
Unfortunately, thus far, Tank hasn’t had any “50-50” fights during his ten-year professional career.
All 28 fights on Tank’s resume, he was expected to win handily, and some of the blame for that can go to his former promoters at Mayweather Promotions. They were really careful with the way they matched Tank, and some would say TOO careful.
After Tank takes care of yet another mismatch in April against Ryan Garcia, he needs to fight these lions to ensure that his popularity keeps soaring and his legacy is a solid one:
- Shakur Stevenson
- Devin Haney
- Regis Prograis
- Frank Martin
- Josh Taylor
- Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis
- Terence Crawford
- Roiman Villa
- William Zepeda
- Vasyl Lomachenko
“The dominant force in the division until recently was Vasyl Lomachenko and the rising power, Shakur Stevenson. Andre, let me ask you something and I’m a fan of Gervonta. If you’re Gervonta, would you be okay just collecting checks, beating solid guys, but so far avoiding the three belt fighters in your weight class?” said Max Kellerman on Max on Boxing.
“If Gervonta Davis never fights those guys, then we can say he’s avoiding them, but he’s in a sweet spot right now,” said Andre Ward. “You’ve got to realize that he’s come up under Mayweather. He’s got the Mayweather co-sign. Mayweather gave him the blueprint on how to sell tickets.
“Mayweather showed up to his events, and that helped him sell tickets, and then he took it to the next level through his performances,” Ward continued about Gervonta.
“He’s explosive, and everybody loves knockouts, and you never know what’s going to happen in a Gervonta Davis fight. So he’s done the work to be at this point. Time will tell if he wants those match-ups or not.
“Personally, me, I love the money. I’ve been in a lot of heavy negotiations where you’re fighting for every dime. You got to get your money. Don’t sacrifice that for legacy, but at a certain point, you’ve got to be in some 50-50 match-ups.
“That’s the easiest way to look at a fighter’s resume, to look at their record, to look at their names on the records. You’ve got to ask yourself, ‘How many 50-50 match-ups you’ve been in where if you’re not on point, you can lose tonight.’
“I think Gervonta has to step it up in the 50-50 category. He gets through [Ryan] Garcia, which is no given, and then I think those other fights are waiting for him on the other end,” said Ward.
“The Floyd [Mayweather Jr] blueprint, and who can argue with it from a business point of view, and maybe even a legacy point of view, considering he’s among the greatest that ever did it.
“Part of the blueprint seems to be not to give the people what they want when they want it, and that creates pent-up demand, which pays off down the road and sometimes puts you in with a fighter that is no longer in his prime,” said Kellerman.