Gervonta Davis took to social media to complain about not being invited by Turki Al-Sheikh for the Ring Awards event last Saturday in London. Davis seemed bitter about not being one of the fighters invited by Turki.
Turki’s choices
WBA lightweight champion Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) said Al-Sheikh only invited people he “deals with.” What really turned him on was seeing Shakur Stevenson among the fighters posing with Turki for a photo.
Shakur was prominently positioned for the photo, indicating his high status as a fighter among the group. Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia were also invited.
He’s going to have Tank’s kettle on the boil because he didn’t rate Shakur, who tends to get flustered when he fights. He is not in the same league as Gervonta in terms of entertainment, ticket sales, and being a PPV attraction. Shakur is an early 2000s retro-Mayweather type who seems out of place in this era where fighters have to entertain or else.
However, Shakur’s signing with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom means he will be invited to Turki events and fight on their Riyadh Season card next month, on February 22. If Tank Davis had been with Hearn, he certainly would have been invited. Shakur said in an interview last Saturday that Turki is going to get into the fight between him and Tank Davis soon.
“Because they didn’t invite everyone, but they invited the people they deal with. F*** out of here… Look at the little rat who thinks he’s got something (Eddie Hearn) now tell everyone they’re fighting between them, since they have a heavy list,” said Tank Davis on X.
In the past, Tank Davis said that Turki Al-Sheikh would need to send “two Ferraris” to his front door as a starting point to begin negotiations to fight on one of his cards. That didn’t happen.
“If they want me, they’re going to send something to my door … like two Ferraris or something,” Tank Davis said in an interview.
Who’s in, who’s out
Fans who view this negatively argue that Turki has created a small club or clique of fighters that he selects and pays well for his huge cards.
Fighters who are not invited are left behind and do not have the same spotlight to grow their careers. They are left on the sidelines and not making big money because they are not in the club.
In sociology, there are “in group” and the “group out”. Cliques form in-group, are invited to parties, and usually get the best. The “Out-group” is not allowed in the group, unless it does something that sets it apart, like being successful at something.
