Lucas Jones
Saturday was a big day for boxing, with world title fights and big stars in action. The headline of the day was Frank Martin’s crushing eighth-round stoppage of Gervonta “Tank” Davis to retain the WBA lightweight championship.
Davis has emerged as a huge star in the sport and his fights have always delivered incredible action or brutal stoppages. Martin tried to defend himself, winning a few early rounds, but Davis’ strength and precision eventually took control to score the stoppage.
In the undercard fight of the same event, David Benavidez made his light heavyweight debut after twice winning the WBC super middleweight championship. Benavidez, who holds an undefeated professional record, won an unequal victory on the scoreboard about former world light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
After big stars score big wins, the conversation naturally turns to one question: What’s next?
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what could be next for the weekend’s biggest winners.
Gervonta “Tank” Davis
Top Picks: Shakur Stevenson, Vasiliy Lomachenko… maybe Ryan Garcia?
Davis’ fights began to play out almost exactly the same way every time. Davis starts slow, figures out his opponent and then crushes him as soon as he thinks he has a chance. Once again, the world is in Davis’s oyster as arguably the sport’s biggest star and world champion.
Davis has always talked a lot about facing the best fighters available, but honestly, he’s taken a very managed approach to facing any real risks. Martin is a good fighter who belongs somewhere in the middle of the top 10 in the lightweight division, not quite on the level of WBC champion Shakur Stevenson or IBF champion Vasiliy Lomachenko. Stevenson and Lomachenko are two names Davis mentioned and they are both compelling fights.
Shortly before the Martin fight, there were reports that preliminary negotiations had already begun between the Davis and Lomachenko camps, making this seem like the most likely next step for Davis. It would also be nice to fight now, while Lomachenko, while no longer at the peak of his talent, is still a legitimately great fighter and at 36 years old, may not last much longer.
Stevenson brings his own benefits to a potential fight. He faces Artem Harutyunyan on July 6th and becomes a promotional free agent after that fight. Davis is promoted by Premier Boxing Champions, who prefer to work in-house as much as possible. If Stevenson signs with PBC or accepts the fight as a free agent, that could be more appealing than co-promoting a Lomachenko fight with Top Rank.
Another possibility for Davis is a rematch with Ryan Garcia. Garcia was defeated by Davis in 2023, but the fight was a mega event. Garcia is coming off a dominant performance over Devin Haney that breathed new life into his career and made him an even bigger star, although the result could be overturned after Garcia failed pre- and post-fight performance-enhancing drug tests.
Garcia came to the ring after Davis’ victory and the pair hugged, although Davis said in the post-fight press conference, “He’s crazy talking about a rematch. He said I was the best at 135 to 142. He said That’s it. He said he wants to fight me again.
David Benavidez
Top Picks: David Morrell, winner of Dmitry Bivol x Artur Beterbiev… continues to campaign for Canelo Alvarez
Benavidez made a successful move to light heavyweight against a crafty former world champion. It wasn’t perfect though, with Benavidez not showing the same blistering pressure and endless gas tank that he did at super middleweight.
There were still many positives, however. Benavidez’s defense was exceptional for most of the fight, using head movements and a high guard to avoid clean punches. And even at this stage in his career, Gvozdyk is a talented and crafty fighter who has never gained significant momentum over 12 rounds.
The obvious “fight to make” for Benavidez is a return to super middleweight to finally get his fight with undisputed champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. That’s not going to happen, as Alvarez has shown no real interest in stepping into the ring with Benavidez.
With nothing left to accomplish at 168 other than a fight with Alvarez, Benavidez will likely continue campaigning at 175. The biggest possible fight would be against the winner of the October 12 clash between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol to crown an undisputed light heavyweight . champion.
It’s unclear whether the two will reunite after their first fight, and if they do, it would leave Benavidez in limbo until a rematch is scheduled and actually happens.
The best option for Benavidez could be a fight with David Morrell, the other fighter Alvarez apparently refused to fight despite Morrell being a long-time mandatory challenger. Morrell followed Benavidez’s path to light heavyweight and faces Radivoje Kalajdzic for the secondary WBA title on August 3.
Morrell vs. Benavidez and Bivol vs. Betterbiev serving as a mini tournament of sorts would be exciting for fans and great for the division, building a big fight on top of a big fight.
Liam Paro
Top Picks: Subriel Matias or Richardson Hitchins rematch
Paro is coming off a stunning upset of Subriel Matias to win the IBF junior welterweight title in the main event of Saturday night’s other big card. Matias was seen as something of a bogeyman in the division, the kind of guy Devin Haney or Teofimo Lopez would probably want to avoid. Paro had the chance to become world champion and had a fun fight that got a little hectic at times.
While it’s natural to start looking at Lopez, Haney or Isaac Cruz, the other three world champions in the division, it seems likely that a rematch would be necessary. The other likely option would be Richardson Hitchins, who won the IBF title eliminator against Gustavo Lemos in April.
These aren’t the kind of big-pay fights Paro might want, but a Matias rematch would be fair and reasonable and Hitchins has earned his shot and the IBF is much more serious about its championship responsibilities than the other three major sanctioning bodies.
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