Coach Kenny Ellis Elevates Abdullah Mason #2 At 135, Snubs Established Stars

Gervonta Davis’ assistant coach, Kenny Ellis, ranked his top 10 lightweights, surprisingly placing prospect Abdullah Mason above Shakur Stevenson at the #2 spot.

Ellis’ Bias?

Naturally, Kenny places Tank Davis at #1, but it is hard to believe that Mason (15-0, 13 KOs) is above WBC 135-lb champion Shakur and IBF champ Vasily Lomachenko.

Mason would be a grave threat to Shakur due to his power, but he needs to gain experience to be placed above the three-division world champion.

Kenny’s placement of Shakur and Lomachenko believes the prospect Mason suggests that he might have some bitterness towards them. They are the main threats to Tank Davis in the lightweight division, along with William Zepeda, who Kenny also has ranked below Abdullah Mason.

Mason, 20, has looked impressive during his short three-year professional career, but he still needs to fight a contender. Many unknowns remain about Mason and his future.

Placing him above the two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division world champion Lomachenko is a bit of a stretch. Ellis’ list would make more sense if Mason had beaten some highly ranked top-tier competition.

Coach Kenny Ellis’ Top Ten 135-lb Rankings

1. Gervonta Davis
2. Abdullah Mason
3. Shakur Stevenson
4. Vasily Lomachenko
5. Frank Martin
6. Andy Cruz
7. Floyd Schofield
8. Keyshawn Davis
9. William Zepeda
10. Curmel Moton

Protecting Tank’s Image?

Frank Martin doesn’t belong on any top 10 list, especially above a dangerous knockout artist like William Zepeda. Zepeda would destroy Frank Martin, and so would Keyshawn Davis and Curmel Moton. Martin was knocked out in the eighth round by Tank Davis on June 15th and looked terrible.

A year earlier, Martin needed to rally in the second half to win a narrow 12-round decision against Artem Harutyunyan. When you’re barely beating Harutyunyan, that’s a red flag that you’re not good.

Kenny placing Martin at #5 will make Tank Davis look better for beating him. Fans would roast Tank for having fought him if he were ranked where he should be outside of the top 10. That’s been Tank’s specialty. He was fighting lesser opposition his entire career and swerving the killers.