Gervonta Davis looked set to unify the lightweight world titles against Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Following an impressive knockout win over Frank Martin to retain his WBA belt, ‘Tank’ made it clear he would take on the Ukrainian, who recently won the vacant IBF title by beating George Kambosos Jr.

Things were looking positive until Lomachenko’s manager claimed his fighter wasn’t yet motivated to return to the ring, and reports later confirmed talks were off.

‘Tank’ Davis’ co-trainer Kenny Ellis told Mill City Boxing that it was time for Lomachenko to retire if he didn’t want this mega-money bout.

Asked what his initial thoughts on the news were and what happens next, Ellis said he feels Lomachenko is ducking Davis and hopes WBC Champion Shakur Stevenson won’t do the same.

The move from Lomachenko to withdraw from negotiations does indeed open the door to a fight with Stevenson, who this month became a free agent after a longterm promotional deal with Top Rank.

In theory, the fight should be easy enough to make, with both men recently coming off a defence. Whether that translates to signing the contract remains to be seen.