Tank's Coach Says Shakur Stevenson Would School a 47-Year-Old Pacquiao

Shakur Stevenson still doesn't have a dance partner months after signing with Zuffa Boxing in July, and the latest name floated is a strange one: Manny Pacquiao. The 47-year-old, boxing's only eight-division champion, was supposed to co-headline a Floyd Mayweather rematch before those talks fell apart with no new date on the books. Now he's being tied to a matchup with the 25-0 WBO super-lightweight king.

Kenny Ellis, part of Gervonta Davis' coaching team, isn't buying it as a real fight. Speaking to MillCity Boxing, Ellis predicted Stevenson would take a comfortable unanimous decision — and said he doesn't expect it to be any more competitive than the shutout Stevenson handed Teofimo Lopez in January, which all three judges scored 119-109.

Ellis leaned hard on the math. He pointed to the age gap and Father Time doing the heavy lifting, arguing the Newark southpaw would simply pick Pacquiao apart over 12 rounds. The one thing he wouldn't guarantee: a stoppage. Ellis figures Stevenson won't take the risks needed to close the show, and given Stevenson's résumé, that tracks.

The KO Question

That caution isn't a knock — it's a reading of the résumé. Stevenson's 25-0 record carries just 11 knockouts, and his masterclass over Lopez went the full route without a serious scare. He's a technician first, a puncher a distant second. Ellis essentially said the smart play against a legend is to bank the rounds and go home clean.

Pacquiao, for what it's worth, is the more romantic name but the harder sell competitively. Stevenson's actual dance card looks more serious elsewhere. WBA super-lightweight champ Gary Antuanne Russell (19-1, 17 KO) is in the mix, as is Raymond Muratalla (24-0, 17 KO), who just vacated his IBF lightweight strap to move up to 140.

Where That Leaves Davis

The elephant in the room is still Tank himself. Davis (30-0-1, 28 KO) sits on the sidelines with a 2027 return looking likely after fresh legal problems, and his last outing was a controversial majority draw with Lamont Roach Jr. Stevenson-Davis remains the money fight in the lightweight picture. Everything else — Pacquiao included — is just noise until that one gets made.