Naoya Inoue has taken the world of boxing by storm and is now widely-recognised as a top three pound-for-pounder if not the cream of the crop. As the Japanese sensation continues to move up and conquer weight-classes, veteran promoter Bob Arum has shared his belief on how far Inoue can go and whether we will ever see him face Gervonta Davis.

‘The Monster’ began his career as a light-flyweight and won the WBC world title in just his sixth professional contest in 2014. Since then, Inoue has ever only fought in world title bouts in a run of 22 consecutive championship encounters spanning from the 108lb division to the super-bantamweight scene.

Inoue became Japan’s first undisputed champion when he knocked out Paul Butler in 2022 but it is at 122lbs where he has finally received the worldwide recognition that he deserves – mainly after a sensational win over unified champion Stephen Fulton on his debut at the weight.

Still, some fans maintain that Inoue cannot be considered as the pound-for-pound king until he fights bigger names in the sport and the 31-year-old continues to be linked to a future move up to lightweight – where he could potentially take on the self-proclaimed ‘face of boxing’ Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.

On the Cigar Talk podcast, Bob Arum shunned any chance of Inoue facing ‘Tank’ and explained that it would not be fair to force Inoue to fight as high as 135lbs when he is already at a physical disadvantage as a super-bantamweight.

“In his last few fights, he is fighting 122lb guys and he is always the smaller guy. Even when he goes to 126lbs, which they are talking about going to, he is going to be massively smaller than the fighters that he fights. When he goes up, if he goes up to 135lbs – that is not going to be fair.

“No, [there is no way that I can see the Gervonta Davis fight happening] really. The size difference is monumental.”

Whilst a clash between Inoue and Davis will not be happening any time soon, Inoue will also not be returning to fight in the United Kingdom in September, despite links that he could appear on the Anthony Joshua versus Daniel Dubois card at Wembley Stadium in three months’ time.

Instead, Inoue is poised to return to fight in Japan once again against Irish-born contender TJ Doheny – who has become a fan-favourite in Inoue’s native country. Following that outing, Inoue may appear once again in December where he would expectedly go up against undefeated Australian Sam Goodman in his final bout as a super-bantamweight.

Finally, the arguable pound-for-pound number one will make the move to the featherweight division in 2025 if all goes to plan, where he would assumably continue his remarkable run of title contests and face one of the champions at 126lbs; Luis Alberto Lopez (IBF), Rafael Espinoza (WBO), Nick Ball (WBA) or Rey Vargas (WBC).

Just two days ago analyst Stephen A. Smith was terrified of imagining Vasyl Lomachenko in the same ring as Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. In his opinion, besides size, since the Ukrainian boxer lacked the required punching power to face ‘Tank,’ there was a great chance the boxer from Baltimore could floor ‘Loma’. Meanwhile, thinking of an apt opponent for the WBA Lightweight champion, Smith rallied for Shakur Stevenson. But unlike Smith, Shakur feels Lomachenko still has a chance against Gervonta Davis!

While Vasyl Lomachenko is near the end of his prime, Gervonta Davis is about to enter it. Added to this, as Loma is “small,” Stephen A. Smith feels Davis will knock out the Ukrainian in a compelling fight. However, Shakur Stevenson feels it is worth highlighting the experience and IQ that Lomachenko has as a boxer.

As the two-time Olympic gold medalist is 35, Shakur feels “only one or two fights [are] left in his career probably.” For the same reason, he believes if Davis and Loma must share the ring, “the time is now.” But how does Shakur think the fight will play out? In his latest interview on FightHype, the boxer from Newark confidently stated, “I still think with Lomachenko’s skills and stuff, it will still be a good fight.”

I don’t think that Lomachenko is a pushover even though he is older. With the experience he’s got and the knowledge, I think it could be a tremendous fight,” Shakur added, reasoning his answer. However, there is one thing that Lomachenko must possess. As we all have seen, Gervonta Davis is capable of throwing and landing with breathtaking power. In that sense, Shakur feels Loma can potentially beat ‘Tank’, if he can endure Davis’ shots.

“All is gonna boil down to can Lomachenko have punch resistance to what ‘Tank’ is throwing?” Shakur concluded. Meanwhile, after Bob Arum’s recent statements, the chances of Davis vs. Loma have significantly increased.

Gervonta Davis might face Vasyl Lomachenko in four months

Although Stephen A. Smith feels Gervonts Davis vs. Shakur Stevenson makes more sense, Bob Arum understands that Davis vs. Lomachenko will be huge financially. After seeing Gervonta Davis KO Frank Martin in the eighth round, Arum announced, “We’re up for that fight [Davis]. Lomachenko’s up for that.” Additionally, the CEO of Top Rank claimed that Lomachenko vs. Davis “would produce more money than a fight with Shakur.”

In this connection, Arum also hinted at a date he had in mind. While there are many possibilities, as per BoxingScene, Davis vs. Loma could take place in November or December of this year. “Everything’s up in the air. There’s a lot of possibilities,” the 92-year-old said. With that said, do you think Vasyl Lomachenko can defeat Gervonta Davis? Do you agree with Shakur on his argument? Let us know in the comments below.

Gervonta Davis is weighing up who his next opponent should be, with WBC champion Shakur Stevenson and IBF title holder Vasyl Lomachenko the leading candidates to take him on

Who next for Gervonta Tank Davis? The WBA lightweight champion doesn’t much care. He will take on anybody.

Nevertheless the obvious candidates present themselves, and if the Saudis want to extend their influence in boxing they should be on the blower immediately to WBC champion Shakur Stevenson and IBF champ Vasyl Lomachenko.

It appears the latter is closer. That would have been some battle in Loma’s peak years. Loma had almost 400 amateur fights before turning over. Had he crossed to the paid ranks even five years earlier he might have gone down as one of the greatest fighters the world has ever seen.

Stevenson is different. His contract with Bob Arum’s Top Rank has one fight to run. I doubt anyone will be rushing in to sign him because the excitement in the ring does not match his talent.

People want to be entertained. They want to see action, punches thrown. That’s why Davis is such a star. He’s aggressive and thrilling. You can’t take your eyes off him. In the early rounds last week it looked like Frank Martin was on top, but he was never truly convincing.

He could never quite push Davis back. None can. Davis is relentless, and sure enough he got through in the end, breaking Martin down and ending it in the eighth with a chilling uppercut.

Lomachenko would be the fight. He is still a great fighter. But if he stands with Tank I think he gets chinned too. And that’s some achievement.

Stevenson has a chance against Davis because of his natural speed. That’s a problem for Davis. I don’t like the way Stevenson fights but he is very effective, especially when he is wary of his opponent.

Davis is a southpaw. He comes at you, hunts you down. He is exactly the kind of boxer I tried to be. I was not the most skilful, but I was always on the front foot and people loved it.

Davis actually wants to make fights. He wants to be involved in the big nights. He is a throwback in that regard, and he believes he has the beating of everybody. I agree.

His explosiveness, brilliantly exemplified with his celebratory back flips, is some attribute to have. He can fire off shots in quick bursts and when he lands with either hand, the end is nigh.

Lightweight is probably the limit for him. There is enough meat on the bone at 135 pounds to keep him fed, and at that weight he is fully optimized. A pocket rocket as devastating as any in the ring today.

It has been reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is looking to inject $5 billion into boxing to create a league similar to the UFC, aiming to bring together major boxing promotions. The plan involves the Saudis purchasing minority stakes in top promotions such as Matchroom, Queensberry, and Top Rank.

Led by Turki Alalshikh, discussions are still underway, and no official comments have been made by the promoters. However, Gervonta Davis believes this initiative may face significant obstacles.

If Turki Alalshikh‘s vision comes to fruition, with support from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, it could drastically alter the boxing landscape by ensuring that top fighters compete against each other regularly.

Davis’ doubts

Currently, boxing is governed by several sanctioning bodies-WBC, IBF, WBA, and WBO-that each have their own champions, often preventing titleholders from facing off.

“I mean, that would never happen,” said a sceptical Davis.

“Because everybody don’t agree [with each other], everybody [is] not on the same page”.

The idea isn’t new, but has been hindered by promoters’ reluctance to share profits and risk their champions’ statuses. While the Saudi proposal is ambitious, it must overcome deep-seated industry fragmentation.

“We carefully planned our activities for the last six months,” Alalshikh said in May.

Gervonta Davis decided at the last minute to skip the grand arrivals for his fight against Frank Martin in Las Vegas, prompting concern that it would go ahead.

The Baltimore puncher is scheduled to put his WBA Lightweight World title on the line this coming Saturday against undefeated Martin – his first outing since a statement win over Ryan Garcia in 2023.

The PBC fight week didn’t get off to a great start when ‘Tank’ took to social media to announce that he was displeased with the promotion and therefore wouldn’t be showing face

“The promotion for this fight been ass. Now watch [I don’t] show up to the arrivals s**t today.”

Fans in attendance were indeed let down, and some then questioned what to expect for the rest of the week’s events in the lead-up to fight night

Speaking to FightHype, Davis’ coach Calvin Ford urged people not to read in to the no-show too much.

“How long y’all been knowing Tank man? I used to do the same thing y’all do. I stopped doing it. Let him just do what he do because at the end of the day that’s what makes Tank … I don’t know how his body is. You know sometimes y’all gotta go to work, do y’all feel like it all the time? We getting ready for the roll out to the world.”

Asked if he would make the press conference, Ford was optimistic.

“I’ve never seen Tank missing a press conference. Let’s look at history, let’s look at the stats.”

Davis – who was spotted out on a run in Vegas at the time of the Grand Arrivals – headlines the card against Martin this Saturday with the intriguing co-main event of David Benavidez stepping up to light-heavyweight for a WBC Interim title shot against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Gvozdyk.

Gervonta Davis got testy with his opponent Frank Martin at Wednesday’s pre-fight press conference.

Following the presser, the two boxers engaged in a tense staredown, jawing at each other. That’s when “Tank” Davis (29-0) feinted at Martin (18-0) and got him into defense mode, which cracked a good laugh for Davis.

You can watch their staredown from their pre-fight press conference in the video above.

Davis returns to the boxing ring this Saturday to defend his WBA lightweight title against Martin. The championship bout is scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and will be available on pay-per-view through Prime Video.

After more than a year out of the ring, Gervonta Davis is all set to step back into it this Saturday, when he will take on undefeated Frank Martin for Tank’s WBA lightweight belt.

Davis is one of the biggest draws in the sport, so there should be a ton of hype for this one, but that hasn’t really been the case. Davis has expressed frustration with how the fight has been promoted, and even skipped the grand arrivals on Tuesday. And now, he’s taking out his frustration on Martin.

Tank Davis makes Frank Martin flinch durin face-off

At the face-off following Wednesday’s press conference, Davis stepped right up to Martin’s face and began trash-talking. He then faked like he was going to throw a punch, forcing Martin to flinch and get ready for battle.

Honestly, it was a very quick reaction from Martin in which he showcased his reaction time. But Davis wasn’t impressed and instead laughed at him. This came after Davis openly mocked Martin during the presser.

Davis looks genuinely annoyed during the lead-up to this event. That could be scary for Martin, or it could be an advantage if Tank is distracted even a little bit.

Gervonta Davis and Frank Martin have differing accounts of their infamous sparring session.

Davis and Martin will meet in a professional ring showdown this Saturday, with the former’s WBA lightweight world title on the line.

It will not be the first time that the pair touched gloves, as they met in front of boxing legend Floyd Mayweather at his gym in a heated sparring session.

The pair argued up on stage at their launch press conference over the exact outcome of the fiery encounter.

But Davis has since given a more detailed look at the training clash, telling PBC’s Gloves Off: “Me and Frank, we got history.

“When I was in Floyd’s gym, we used to spar everybody. So he’s seen me put people out, he’s seen me beat the hell out of people.

“So when we sparred, me being me, I rushed him cos I knew he was scared, and I didn’t want to get caught with his best punch; his left hand.

“And once he caught me with his left hand, that’s when I got mad.

“I caught him, and then he started grabbing me after that and I jumped on him and it turned into like a wrestling match.

“This happened because he kept grabbing me and stuff like that.”

Martin gave his own version of events, insisting Davis told lies in his account.

He said: “But there were some things that he said that was all cap [lies]. There were things he was saying, just to say.

“When I sparred him, a lot of people were there in the gym. He got in there and wanted to play. I hit him with the brick hand.

“Boom, he felt it. He ain’t calling it the brick hand for no reason. They kept coming in and having to break it up.

“He kept trying to put me in a headlock. We was just trying to hurt each other.”

It will no doubt be a continuation of their fiery exchanges, when they meet in the ring with Davis the overwhelming favourite.

A sparring feud will be settled in the ring, and ‘Tank’ could move on to bigger and better things including a rematch with rival Ryan Garcia.

LAS VEGAS — Gervonta Davis got one over on Frank Martin in their first faceoff ahead of their much-anticipated boxing match.

Davis (29-0) is scheduled to defend his WBA lightweight title against Martin (18-0) on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. On Wednesday, the two met for the event’s pre-fight press conference that was relatively uneventful until the faceoffs at the end.

“Tank” quickly got in Martin’s face and the pair spent a few minutes jawing back and forth, with Davis repeating that he is “going to touch you up” while Martin replied that they’ll see on Saturday. Tension continued to build as the faceoff prolonged, culminating in a moment at the end where Davis feinted, drawing out a flinch from “The Ghost.” Davis then laughed dismissively at the challenger as he and his team walked off.

Gervonta Davis is widely regarded as one of the best boxers in the sport’s recent history. At 29 years old, he still has a lot of fight left to carve out a truly unique legacy.

But getting to the pinnacle of the lightweight division didn’t come easy, although a lot of it was due to Tank himself. Davis has been marred by out-of-the-ring legal issues over the past seven years. One of those issues led to him spending 44 days in jail last summer.

Tank Davis says jail changed him as a person

During a recent interview with PBC, Davis spoke about those 44 days and how it changed him as a person.I felt like I wasn’t supposed to be in there. It was a learning experience. It showed me that’s not where I want to be. I got kids, I got to take care of, my family, friends and everything I’ve got to take care of… I’m fighting for my future, my kids’ future, my people’s future that’s coming behind me.

Prison can change any man, and it sounds like a month and a half played a role in reshaping Davis’ mindset. In December, Davis converted to Islam, another nod to his personal change.

Davis has stayed out of trouble in the lead-up to his fight against Frank Martin on June 15. Davis puts his WBA lightweight title on the line against the unbeaten 29-year-old with a lot to prove.