It doesn't matter if he’s hanging out with family, heading to the grocery store, or even preparing for another fight. Gervonta “Tank” Davis will always be brought up when Shakur Stevenson is present.

The Ring’s No. 3 ranked lightweight and current WBC champion isn’t annoyed by the nonstop conversations around Davis. Stevenson knows at some stage, he’ll have to put his money where his mouth is and prove he’s the better fighter. However, the 27-year-old is incredibly vexed with the narration of their story.

According to Stevenson, there are too many believing he’s desperate for a fight with Davis. Does Stevenson need him? Sure. But is the feeling mutual? Without question.

“Me and Tank is the legacy-defining fight for each other,” explained Stevenson to Eze Talks Sports. “A lot of people try to make it seem like I need him. But honestly, he needs me just as much as I need him.”

Focusing on Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) is both meaningless at this point and disrespectful to his current opponent. Next month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) will make a second title defence when lining up across the ring from Floyd Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs).

So, with a live dog standing in front of him, the former Olympic silver medalist doesn't believe it would be prudent to ignore the young, hungry lion banging on his door.

Getting rid of Schofield is step one for Stevenson. After having a pretty inactive 2024, he knows that his 2025 could be the exact opposite. First things first, of course, Schofield must be tossed to the side and dealt with. If that happens, Stevenson will place more of his attention on the rest of the division’s top guns.

“There’s gonna be a lot of big fights but I gotta focus on the task in front of me. Then we can talk about the next guy and the guys after that.”