Gervonta Davis took to social media to complain that Turki Al-Sheikh didn’t invite him to the Ring Awards last Saturday in London. Davis seemed bitter that he wasn’t one of the fighters Turki invited.
Turkey’s elections
WBA lightweight champion Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) said Al-Sheikh only invited people he “deals with”. What really set him off was the sighting Shakur Stevenson among the fighters posing with Turki for a photo.
Shakur was prominently posed for the photo, indicating his high status as a fighter in the group. Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia were also invited.
That must have set Tank’s kettle on the boil because he doesn’t rate Shakur, who tends to get booed when fighting. He is not in the same league as Gervonta in terms of entertainment, ticket sales and PPV attraction. Shakur is a retro-Mayweather guy from the early 2000s who seems out of place in this era where fighters have to entertain.
However, Shakur’s signing with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom means he will be invited to Turki’s events and fight on his Riyadh Season card next month on February 22. If Tank Davis was with Hearn, he would have been invited for sure. Shakur said in an interview last Saturday that Turki will soon arrange a fight between him and Tank Davis.
“Why didn’t they invite everyone, but they invited the people they deal with. Get the hell out of here…Look at the little rat who thinks he’s got something on his mind (Eddie Hearn) now tell them they’re all fighting each other because they’ve got a big roster,” said Tank Davis on X.
In the past, Tank Davis has said that Turki Al-Sheikh would have to send “two Ferraris” to his front door as a starting point to begin negotiations for a fight on one of his cards. That didn’t happen.
“If they want me, they have to send something to my front door … like two Ferraris or something,” Tank Davis said in an interview.
Who’s in, who’s out
Fans who view this negatively would argue that Turki has created a small club or group of fighters that he selects and pays well for his huge cards.
Fighters who aren’t called up are left behind and don’t get the same focus to develop their careers. They are left on the sidelines and don’t make a lot of money because they are not in the club.
In sociology they exist “in the group” and “outside the group.” They form cliques in the group, invite them to parties and generally get the best. An “out-group” is not allowed into the in-group unless it does something that sets it apart, such as achieving success at something.
