If there were a face for “I have a lot on my plate right now,” it would undoubtedly be Shakur Stevenson. The WBC lightweight champion has been practically exhausted calling out Gervonta Davis for unifying the WBA and WBC belts, but little has Tank noticed. The age-old rivalry has kept fueling ever since the 27-year-old synchronized weight classes with the 30-0 undefeated southpaw, and the collision course doesn’t seem to be entering the ring anytime soon.

Now, the Baltimore native is focused on the rematch with Lamont Roach Jr. on August 16 after a controversial draw, while also eyeing a potential matchup with Jake Paul in November this year. And, in all of that, the 23-0 boxer is surely not on the list. Meanwhile, Sugar is also focused on his next fight with William Zepeda on July 12 in New York. With all of that running in the background, some would think that Shakur Stevenson would be full of confidence and ready to take on the world, but it’s quite the opposite.

While in a conversation on the sidelines of their recent press conference in New York, Stevenson answered the internet’s favorite question—’100 Shakurs vs. 1 Gorilla,’ who would win? The Newark native had an oddly funny reaction. “S**t! That gorilla,” he remarked without hesitation. Unlike other boxers, Shakur kept it his pick, obvious and pragmatic.

Considering that he would never fight a gorilla, the preference was very simple for him. “Cause Shakur ain’t fighting that motherf***ing gorilla. I’mma go with that gorilla,” he admitted. With that, he burst out laughing at the hilarity of the whole thing. Fans in the comments were joking all the way, too. They referenced Stevenson’s November 2023 bout against Edwin De Los Santos, where he won by unanimous decision, albeit with a lackluster performance.

To date, the jokes keep resurfacing about how Stevenson kept “running” in what was a very defensive performance on his part. He had landed only 21 punches with his left hand in that uneventful match, receiving boos from the audience. Once the bout was over, he acknowledged there was an injury stopping him from putting his everything into the bout. Moving forward, Shakur Stevenson has only one option to clear his image of an underperforming boxer—his upcoming fight against William Zepeda on July 12 in New York. There, he can make enough noise to grab Tank’s attention. Especially since the latter has Jake Paul lined up next.

Shakur Stevenson’s wait extended as Tank goes with Jake Paul instead

If the coming rematch with Lamont Roach Jr. on August 16 was not enough, Jake Paul entered the scene to make things even more frustrating for Stevenson. Right now, the 11-1 Cleveland native is actively in negotiations with Tank for an exhibition fight in November later in the year. It will be the “biggest event of the year,” according to Paul, who doesn’t back off from challenging high-profile fighters. Why an exhibition, you ask? Well, it’s because of the weight difference between the two.

You see, while Davis fights at lightweight, Paul is gigantic, up at heavyweight, making it a 65-pound difference. Even Stevenson acknowledged the massive gap while he was radioing on The Breakfast Club, saying, “Jake is big, bro. Tank is little. Jake Paul is like 200-plus on the regular.” He dropped his views about Tank’s power not being enough to knock out the larger Paul, even in an exhibition setting. “That’s [Paul’] a man that’s like almost a hundred pounds bigger than him [Tank],” he said.

In another interview with FightHub TV just two days ago, he even criticized Gervonta Davis for considering fighting Paul. Referring to himself as the much better choice, he said, “ Man, ‘Tank’ [is] disrespectful to the sport if he chooses that over fighting with me.  I’m the best fighter in the sport… He called cap on it. So if he gonna call cap and say I’m not who I say I am, come prove, bro.” Now, the ball is in Tank’s court, and whoever he chooses to fight next, both Paul and Stevenson are ready for it.

Do you think Gervonta Davis would agree to a fight after this? Or are there chances that Stevenson will deliver another disappointing performance? Well, that’s for time to tell.