By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Floyd Mayweather Jr. was 21 years old when, in his 18th professional fight, he won his first world title in 1998.

Thus he understands perfectly the pace at which Gervonta Davis should be moved now that the 22-year-old fighter has become boxing’s youngest world champion. Mayweather was extremely impressed with how the poised, powerful Davis dismantled previously unbeaten Jose Pedraza during their 130-pound title fight Saturday night at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, yet Davis’ promoter isn’t in a hurry to move Davis into the most difficult fights available.

Mayweather ruled out matching Davis against Vasyl Lomachenko any time soon. Ukraine’s Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs), the WBO super featherweight champion, is commonly considered one of the top three boxers, pound-for-pound, in the world.

“We’re not rushing,” Mayweather said following Davis’ seventh-round technical knockout victory over Pedraza. “We’re not rushing. We’re not thinking about Lomachenko. Lomachenko’s with Top Rank. Let him stay over there with Top Rank. That’s where he’s at. My guy’s gonna do his job and I’m gonna make sure I do my job to the best of my ability, to get what he want.”

The retired Mayweather was able to get Davis (17-0, 16 KOs) what the superstar promised Davis when he signed with Mayweather Promotions following his 11th professional fight – a world title fight within two years. Davis capitalized on that opportunity by mostly dominating Puerto Rico’s Pedraza (22-1, 12 KOs) before finishing him with a crushing right hand in the seventh round that dumped Pedraza underneath a bottom rope.

Now Mayweather wants the newly crowned IBF world super featherweight champion from Baltimore to follow the next part of Mayweather’s blueprint for building him into a star.

“Tank, there’s no rush,” Mayweather said to Davis, using the fighter’s nickname. “You young. We wanna build that bank account, be smart, make the right moves.”

If that means making optional title defenses and eventually a mandatory defense of Davis’ IBF championship, that’s fine by Mayweather.

“We’re not looking to unify the belts right now,” Mayweather said. “We’re gonna be smart. We gonna move and let him make money, and let his money build. And when the time is right, we’re gonna take the fights that we need.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.