Teddy Atlas often has harsh words of criticism for many of the sports top stars but now he has claimed he would ‘pay too much money’ to see one man take on the challenge of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Davis is a much-heralded young star of boxing known for his punching power, ring IQ and counter-punching ability and someone Floyd Mayweather recently named as one of the top three stars of the sport.
Those attributes have helped him become world champion in three weight classes from super featherweight to light welterweight.
His most recent bout was in April when he took on Ryan Garcia at a catchweight in Las Vegas, Nevada. He soon got to Garcia and knocked him down with a heavy left in the second round before then stopping him to the body in the seventh round.
In November 2023, when Haney moved up to super lightweight, Davis was elevated to primary WBA lightweight champion. His next fight has not yet been announced but former coach turned pundit Atlas has named who he would like to see in the ring with ‘Tank.’
Speaking on The Fight, he names 20-1 super lightweight contender Subriel Matias from Puerto Rico and rates him highly.
“Go jump in the fire. Open up one of those old-fashioned furnaces and jump in. That’s how you get ready for Matias.
“The fight I would pay too much money to see is him and ‘Tank.’ I would have loved to see a young [Vasyl] Lomachenko and ‘Tank’, now I would love to see Matias and ‘Tank.'”
Matias has knocked out his last five opponents while fighting in the US, having lost his Stateside debut against Petros Ananyan on points.