Gervonta Davis gets the chance to remind fans why he is among the sport’s biggest stars after lengthy layoff

If you’ve watched undefeated lightweight champion and pay-per-view superstar Gervonta “Tank” Davis up close over the past few weeks, it’s been hard not to notice the size of the enormous chips on each of his shoulders that belie his 5-foot-9 height. . frame.

The 29-year-old Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) will take the longest layoff of his professional career on Saturday when he defends his WBA title against top 135-pound contender Frank Martin (18-0, 12 KOs) at main event of a PBC on Prime PPV card from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The event offers no shortage of star power when you consider that two-time super middleweight champion David Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) will share the marquee in an intriguing 175-pound co-main event tilt against former titleholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20 -1, 16 KOs) for WBC interim title. But Davis, who is also one of the best pound-for-pound players in the sport, is undoubtedly the main attraction as he looks to make up for lost time after 14 months away.

Davis didn’t take an extended vacation, of course. Two months after knocking out Ryan Garcia in their blockbuster PPV showdown last April, Davis served 44 days in a Maryland detention center for violating the terms of his house arrest since a November 2020 hit-and-run accident that left four people injured (including a pregnant woman). The legal setback was the culmination of years of similar issues–including multiple arrests for assault and domestic violence–that threatened to prevent Davis from reaching the climax of his brilliant potential.

After being released, Davis kept a relatively low profile – with the exception of continued rants on social media – heading into this comeback fight. In fact, he has given a total of zero interviews before this weekend (aside from Prime Video’s pre-fight documentary series, “Gloves Off”) and admitted to purposely ignoring Tuesday’s big arrivals at the MGM Grand, a day after posting a since-deleted tweet criticizing the event’s promotion.

The rare times Davis spoke, however, presented an introspective look at a seemingly more mature version of the fighter who survived such a ruthless upbringing on the streets of West Baltimore and now realizes how close he came lately to throwing it all away.

“I don’t really let a lot of things bother me because I know I can adapt to the situation I’m in. I’ve overcome a lot of things,” Davis told the “Gloves Off” cameras. “Being incarcerated, I felt like I shouldn’t be there. It was a learning experience. It showed me that it wasn’t where I wanted to be. I have children that I need to take care of, along with family and friends.

“I’m already a legend of where I came from and what I did. I’ve been through crazy things like sleeping on the floor and living in a crack house. Don’t prove anything to anyone else. Now I’m fighting for my future and the future of my children.”

In fact, a lot has changed this year since Davis last practiced his craft. Garcia, the man he knocked out, not only rose to the level of global stardom by publicly faking a mental breakdown just to upset former undisputed lightweight king Devin Haney in April, but the entire structural landscape of the sport has changed significantly. This includes the ongoing (and massive) financial takeover of boxing by Saudi Arabia, which has seen Davis reappear on social media several times in recent months to speak negatively about (while implying that he would need two Ferraris delivered to his door to consider fighting there).

While Davis definitely appears to be entering a more thoughtful season of his career upon his return, there’s no doubt he’s out for revenge, not just against Martin’s rock-solid confidence, but against anyone who has forgotten how great Davis was. It really is like a boxer and what role he believes he still plays as one of the sport’s biggest draws and most exciting practitioners.

From the initial press conference in Las Vegas to announce the fight in May to the final that took place on Wednesday, Davis came out with guns blazing. He has tried to get into Martin’s head at almost every turn, including making him wince during this week’s confrontation, and has also hurled vicious insults in the direction of Errol Spence Jr., who promotes Martin, and just about anyone else on social media that crossed your path.

“He’s shaking,” Davis said of Martin at Wednesday’s final press conference. “He was talking tough yesterday when it was just him. That will show. He’s a favorite. He’s just worried about not getting knocked out. He’s not worried about winning.

“All that movement he does is just fake footwork, it’s normal. Mediocre. I’ll finish you off.”

Some have suggested that Davis, whose tactics against Martin have been described as intimidation, is only doing so because he understands how dangerous his opponent really is this weekend and is looking for every advantage to advance. Davis more or less confirmed much of that sentiment in the rare times he answered questions this week about Martin with a straight face.

But from the standpoint of what fight fans should expect from his highly charged version of “Tank,” his longtime trainer and mentor, Calvin Ford, believes Davis is just preparing to show the boxing world the only version of himself that each of his 29 professional opponents have not yet been eliminated from him.

“I want Frank to come with me because I need him to push that button,” Ford said. “I haven’t seen it yet. I know what’s under that hood, but there’s still a button to push. I’m asking Frank to please push that button. It’s nothing personal, but Frank is in the way.

“You still haven’t seen the real ‘Tank’ until the button is pressed.”

Martin, 29, who fights out of Indianapolis, is trained by Derrick James, who guided Garcia to defeat Haney just two months ago. Martin is not just an elite athlete who came late to the sport after excelling in football and wrestling, he is an explosive southpaw who can box and brings the mentality needed to pull off such a huge upset.

“It can happen any way he wants,” Martin said. “If he acts bad, like I’ve been saying, you’ll see Gervonta Davis get knocked out. If he acts bad, he’ll get knocked out, period. If he acts crazy, he’ll go to sleep.”

Martin brings with him the confidence of a sparring session years ago between the two at the Mayweather Boxing Gym in Las Vegas. Although the content of the rounds they dueled provides contrasting opinions on what happened, Martin claims he hit Davis with a big left hand before “Tank” responded with one of his own until the two had to be separated by those outside the ring after a wrestling match between the two broke out.

The danger that Martin brings alone suggests that fans should expect nothing less than the best from Davis upon his return. But it’s clear from the tone and attitude shown by Davis lately – along with those skyscraper-sized chips on his shoulders – that “Tank” is back to send a much bigger message to the boxing world.

“I just want to prove that I’m the best at 135 [pounds] It is [Saturday] it’s going to be a clinic,” Davis said. “He is someone in his prime and he is hungry. He comes to win and has that mentality. But [Martin] It’s just a stepping stone to what I want to do.”