Lucas Jones
Gervonta “Tank” Davis will return to the ring for the first time since April 2023 when he faces Frank Martin in the Prime Video pay-per-view main event on Saturday. Davis, undoubtedly “the face of boxing”, will defend his WBA lightweight title.
Davis became one of the sport’s most popular fighters as he rose through the ranks and built a reputation as one of boxing’s biggest punchers. Those who focus too much on Davis’ powerful punches miss the patient, well-rounded game he built to create openings to land the big shots that finish off opponents.
In his most recent fight, Davis crushed young star Ryan Garcia in a catchweight bout, scoring two knockdowns, with a body shot in the second, keeping Garcia on the canvas for the referee’s count of 10.
Davis was already a superstar going into the fight against Garcia, but the win took him to another level. For years, Davis talked about big fights with other young lightweight stars, but those meetings never materialized. When the opportunity finally arose, he made the most of it.
In some ways, the fight against Martin is a disappointing step back. Davis has talked about the idea of fights with the likes of WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson or former undisputed champion Devin Haney, but instead finds himself up against Martin, a fighter who deserves respect for his talent but brings very little value. name for fight promotion (read more about why this fight was made here).
“I’m going to finish you off. I’m going to share this all before your eyes. Every time I tell people something is going to happen, what happens?” Davis said at the latest press conference this week. “It hasn’t even hit him yet. He’ll see on Saturday. It’ll hit him. Especially when I touch him. What is he bringing to the table that I haven’t seen?”
Martin is a solid fighter with speed, power and tactical knowledge. He did the one thing fighters need to do to open the door to a championship opportunity: win.
At 18-0, Martin has steadily climbed the rankings, culminating in a career-best performance in a one-sided defeat of Michel Rivera in December 2021. That fight was seen as a nearly 50/50 fight before the fighters entered the ring, but Martin defended victory in all 12 rounds.
Unfortunately, Martin took a step back in his next fight, fighting to a narrow decision victory against unknown Artem Harutyunyan. Martin was uncharacteristically passive for many rounds, allowing Harutyunyan to remain competitive on the cards. In the end, Martin had some good rounds in the final stretch and scored a knockdown in round 12 to avoid the upset.
Martin will need to look a lot more like the man who ran up the score on Rivera than the man who fought Harutyunyan if he is to take down one of the most talented men in the sport, pound for pound.
“This can happen any way he wants. If he acts up, like I’ve been saying, you’ll see Gervonta Davis get knocked out. If he acts up, he’ll get knocked out, period. If he acts crazy, he’ll go to sleep. ” said Martin. “Calvin is telling me to push these buttons, well I’m going to push every button he has. Go out and expect a good fight.”
There are four title fights on the main card. In addition to the main event, the fight that has attracted the most attention this week is the debut of former super middleweight champion David Benavidez in the 175-pound division, when he faces former light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Benavidez continued to push for a shot at undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, but the Mexican star continued to attack him at every turn. Now, he has a chance to grab a piece of the title in hopes of becoming undisputed at light heavyweight.
Let’s take a look at the rest of the undercard before making a prediction and picking the main event.
Davis vs Martin Fight Card, Odds
- Gervonta Davis (c) -700 vs. Frank Martin +475, WBA lightweight title
- David Benavidez -650 vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk +450, vacant WBC interim light heavyweight title
- Gary Antuanne Russell -700 vs. Alberto Puello +475, vacant WBC junior welterweight interim title
- Carlos Adames (c) -750 vs. Terrell Gausha +500, WBC middleweight title
Viewing information
- Date: 15th of June
- Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena – Las Vegas
- Start time: 8 p.m. ET
- How to watch: Prime Video PPV | Price: $74.95
Prediction
While Martin is a step below the level fans want to see Davis face – especially at modern pay-per-view prices – he is a good fighter who should beat all but the elite lightweights. The problem is that Davis is at an elite level. There’s really nothing Martin does that Davis doesn’t do better. Because of this, Martin has to hope that Davis is rusty from his time out of the ring, which included a stint in prison, and can’t get started or can’t find the right moment.
Most likely this fight will be very predictable. Davis tends to start slowly, sensing his opponent’s speed and controlling his own timing while looking for opportunities. It’s a Vasiliy Lomachenko-style “download the data” approach to Davis early in fights and gives brief glimmers of hope to opponents, as was the case with Garcia and Rolando Romero. Then the switch flips and everything goes downhill from there as Davis starts landing frequently and hard.
Expect Martin to put some shots on the bench before Davis hits him with some good shots and then it becomes a game of survival. Once Martin is a little worn down, Davis will likely be stopped in the middle and late rounds. Pick: Gervonta Davis via TKO8
Who beats Davis vs. Martin and which method of victory is mandatory? Visit SportsLine now to see Peter Kahn’s best bets for Saturdayall from the boxing expert who netted his followers a profit of over $4,000, and find out.
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