Shakur Stevenson will gladly take the lightweight fight Gervonta Davis doesn’t want.

The unbeaten WBC 135-pound champion announced through his X account Thursday night that he will fight Lamont Roach early in 2026 if Stevenson can’t secure a fight with Ring/WBO junior welterweight champ Teofimo Lopez.

Opposing Lopez (22-0, 13 KOs) would require Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) to move up from the lightweight limit of 135 pounds to 140.

A fight with Roach would enable Stevenson to remain at lightweight, where the three-division champion is more comfortable.

Stevenson suggested in his statement on X that Roach would take a fight to stay sharp before potentially challenging him for his WBC belt.

“Lamont was getting ready for the rematch so he [is going to] have a in between fight and then fight me top of the year,” Stevenson wrote. “But it’s only if Teo doesn’t accept the fight, tho.”

Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) was obligated to an immediate rematch with Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs), who exercised that contractual right soon after their shocking majority draw March 1 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Their second WBA lightweight title fight was never announced for the targeted dates of June 21 and August 16.

Davis’ decision to fight partake in an intensely scrutinized exhibition against controversial cruiserweight Jake Paul left Roach in limbo. Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) and Davis announced Wednesday that Netflix will stream their November 14 fight from State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

Stevenson produced one of the two best wins of his eight-year professional career July 12 in New York. The 2016 Olympic silver medalist from Newark, New Jersey, dominated dangerous Mexican southpaw William Zepeda (33-1, 27 KOs) and won a wide unanimous decision as part of the “Ring III” card at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The skillful southpaw’s impressive victory advanced Stevenson to the No. 1 spot in The Ring’s lightweight top 10, ahead of Davis. Stevenson was ranked behind Davis before he soundly defeated Zepeda. Stevenson also re-entered The Ring’s pound-for-pound list at No. 9.

Roach, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, still owns the WBA 130-pound title. He is ranked No. 4 among The Ring’s top 10 junior lightweight contenders.

Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.