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Floyd Mayweather wouldn’t even entertain a question about Gervonta Davis’ potential opponents Saturday night.
It wasn’t the appropriate time, according to Davis’ prominent promoter, to discuss future fights for his company’s emerging star. Mayweather wanted to talk about the undefeated Davis’ vicious, one-punch knockout of Leo Santa Cruz, a spectacular, sudden conclusion that trended on Google and various social media platforms.
As Mayweather and Davis savored his sixth-round knockout victory at Alamodome in San Antonio, the attention of most not affiliated with Davis almost immediately shifted toward who he’ll fight next. As soon as the names Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney were uttered by a reporter during their post-fight press conference, an agitated Mayweather wondered why Davis and other boxers aren’t afforded more time to appreciate their wins on fight night.
“As of right now, we wanna enjoy [the victory],” Mayweather said. “Tank had a long training camp. Tank had a long training camp, and we really wanna enjoy this victory. As soon as a fight is over, the first 10 seconds, ‘Who do you wanna fight? Who do you wanna fight?’ Tank is the top dog. Tank is on pay-per-view for a reason. Tank is where he’s at for a reason. So, we don’t wanna come up here and call different names out. ‘Oh, we wanna fight him. We wanna fight him. We wanna fight him.’ We don’t wanna do that.
“What we wanna do is let him go home and enjoy his self with his family, his daughter, his team. And then we’ll talk about that probably in what, 20, 30 days from now? But he should be able to enjoy his victory. Why every time a fighter fight, the first [question is], ‘Who you wanna fight next? Who you wanna fight next?’ I put him in a position so he can do the same thing that I did – fight when he wanna fight, fight who he wanna fight. He’s the top dog. And he gonna keep going out there, proving to the world that he is the best.”
All Mayweather would confirm is that he wants the knockout artist from Baltimore to fight at least twice in 2021, three times if possible. Mayweather and Davis (24-0, 23 KOs) also expect him to headline Showtime Pay-Per-View events moving forward, which means marketable matchmaking won’t allow for fights against huge underdogs like Ricardo Nunez, who was one of Davis’ mandatory challengers, or Yuriorkis Gamboa, a three-division champion who had just turned 38 when Davis stopped him in the 12th round 10 months ago in Atlanta.
Davis didn’t commit to a weight class for his next appearance, either.
Davis, who’ll turn 26 on Saturday, made the 130-pound limit much more comfortably than usual for the Santa Cruz contest because he took training very seriously. Assuming Davis’ reported involvement in a car accident early Thursday morning in Baltimore doesn’t impact when he’ll fight next, Davis intends to return to Mayweather’s gym in Las Vegas early in 2021 to train for his next bout, whether it’s at the junior lightweight limit of 130 pounds or the lightweight maximum of 135.
Below are his top five options in each of those weight classes, some more realistic than others.
OPTIONS AT LIGHTWEIGHT (listed alphabetically)
Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs): If the British southpaw beats Ryan Garcia on December 5 in Indio, California, he’ll hold the WBC interim lightweight title and will have defeated a higher-profile fighter Davis and Mayweather mentioned in the past as a potential opponent. Campbell would be more likely to fight WBC world lightweight champ Devin Haney than Davis, though, if he knocks off Garcia.
Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs): Garcia-Davis eventually would be a bigger pay-per-view event between popular fighters who possess crossover appeal, but an ambitious Garcia wants tough tests sooner than later. Like Campbell, of course, the 22-year-old contender would move into a better position to face Haney than Davis if he wins their interim title fight next month. Haney’s promoter (Matchroom Boxing USA) and Garcia’s promoter (Golden Boy) have streaming deals with DAZN, which also means their fight is easier to put together than Davis-Garcia.
Devin Haney (24-0, 15 KOs): While talented and undefeated if he beats Gamboa (30-3, 18 KOs) on Saturday night in Hollywood, Florida, Haney isn’t as attractive an option from a promotional standpoint as Garcia, if he were to overcome Campbell, or Teofimo Lopez. He would provide Davis with a chance to add another lightweight title to his WBA world 135-pound crown, but Lopez is considered by many the undisputed champion in this division after upsetting Vasiliy Lomachenko by unanimous decision October 17 in Las Vegas.
Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs): This is a less meaningful fight for Davis now that Lopez has dethroned Lomachenko. But if Mayweather and Davis decide the time finally has arrived to box Lomachenko, who’ll turn 33 in February, that fight might be more makeable than in years past, despite Mayweather’s contentious history with Top Rank, his former promoter. Top Rank doesn’t have many appealing in-house options for Lomachenko other than a rematch with Lopez, who doesn’t seem interested in fighting the Ukrainian southpaw again. Lomachenko might move back down to 130 pounds, but Davis probably would want to fight him at 135 pounds, if at all.
Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs): Even cost-conscious consumers would love to watch the 23-year-old Lopez and Davis square off, but Lopez won’t remain at lightweight much longer and Davis obviously wouldn’t move up to 140 pounds to fight him. Garcia and Haney are possible opponents for Brooklyn’s Lopez as well, though there is no guarantee Lopez will fight at the 135-pound limit even once more.
OPTIONS AT JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT (listed alphabetically)
Miguel Berchelt (38-1, 34 KOs): Mexico’s Berchelt tested positive for COVID-19 recently, which caused the WBC super featherweight champion’s defense against Oscar Valdez (28-0, 22 KOs) to be postponed from its planned date of December 12. The Berchelt-Valdez winner would offer Davis a chance to add a legitimate championship to the WBA “super” 130-pound crown he won again by beating Santa Cruz (37-2-1, 19 KOs), but Berchelt and Valdez are promoted by Top Rank, which clearly complicates possible negotiations.
Joseph Diaz Jr. (31-1, 15 KOs): Diaz owns the IBF junior lightweight title Davis once held, but he’d have to win two bouts before he’d be able to pursue a fight versus Davis. The southpaw from Southern California owes former champ Tevin Farmer (30-5-1, 6 KOs, 1 NC) a rematch, supposedly in Diaz’s next fight. The IBF also has ordered a purse bid for November 17 for Diaz’s mandated defense against Tajikistan’s Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (15-0, 12 KOs).
Jamel Herring (22-2, 10 KOs): Herring holds the WBO junior lightweight title, but the Cincinnati-based southpaw is headed toward an optional defense against Northern Ireland’s Carl Frampton (28-2, 16 KOs). The 2012 U.S. Olympian would be perceived as a huge underdog against Davis and also is promoted by Top Rank.
Gary Russell Jr. (31-1, 18 KOs): Russell is neither a junior lightweight nor a lightweight, yet he is the longest-reigning champion in boxing and probably the most logical next opponent for Davis. The 32-year-old Russell has been calling out Davis since early in 2019, is willing to move up even to lightweight to get that fight and the WBC featherweight champ wants a high-profile payday. Davis-Russell would be a big fight in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area and would pack either Baltimore’s Royal Farms Arena or Washington’s Capital One Arena whenever fans are permitted to attend events at those venues. Russell’s purse demands are a possible obstacle, but he and Davis operate on the same side of the proverbial promotional street as fighters affiliated with Al Haymon.
Shakur Stevenson (14-0, 8 KOs): Stevenson, a former WBO featherweight champ, is the WBO’s mandatory challenger for the Herring-Frampton winner. A Davis-Stevenson fight is highly unlikely to take place anytime soon, but as other potential opponents either move up in weight or knock each other off, Davis-Stevenson eventually could become THE fight at junior lightweight or lightweight. Stevenson, however, is promoted by Top Rank as well.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.