WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis is set to make his first defence of his latest world title reign as he prepares for Saturday night’s all-American showdown in Las Vegas against Frank Martin. Ahead of the battle between the two undefeated 135lbers, plenty of words have been exchanged – but ‘Tank’ Davis took things up a notch at yesterday’s presser.
After winning both the IBF and WBA world titles at super-featherweight, Davis moved up to lightweight in 2019 and defeated Yuriorkis Gamboa on his debut at the weight to become the WBA (Regular) champion.
During the years that followed, the self-proclaimed ‘face of boxing’ became a super-lightweight champion, before dropping back down to continue defending his belt on three occasions and then securing a career-best win over Ryan Garcia in a catchweight bout last April.
Unfortunately, Davis has not fought since, marking a 14-month spell of inactivity. However, in that time, the hard-hitting sensation has also been upgraded to full WBA lightweight champion, due to Devin Haney’s decision to move up to the 140lb division and allow his undisputed title to become fragmented.
Davis defends this title against Frank Martin and the challenger appears to have a clear game plan going into the contest, hoping to build on the blueprint set out by Rolando Romero and Ryan Garcia and outbox the champion, he told Boxing Scene.
“Yeah, we know he’s always getting outboxed by guys. Even in his last fight (a knockout of Ryan Garcia), he was getting out-boxed.
“We’ve just got to go 12 rounds. You’ve gotta be woke. Every second of every round. Gotta be alert. Gotta have your eyes open.
“Fighting is 80 percent mental, 20 percent physical. They play a good game at throwing guys off mentally.
“Everything that’s been going on has been prepping me for what could go on mentally. I’m prepared for it. When it comes my way, I’m ready.”
Frank Martin and his team will not have been the first to draft up this tactic when preparing to face Davis but remaining perfect for 12 rounds to avoid being knocked out by someone with the killer instincts of ‘Tank’ is an extremely difficult task. To gain any advantage and throw ‘The Ghost’ off of his game, Davis was extremely vocal at the press conference, possibly hoping to bait Saturday’s dance-partner into a brawl when they meet in the ring.
During their face-off, Davis cut a confident figure and was able to make Martin flinch, perhaps indicating that the Michigan-born southpaw is a tad more nervous and on-edge than his tough exterior would lead you to believe, as captured in a clip by ESPN Ringside.
Davis and Martin headline the Amazon Prime PPV card on Saturday 15th July, topping a bill that features an additional three title contests including the 175lb debut of fan-favourite, David Benavidez – who fights former WBC light-heavyweight champion Oleksandr ‘The Nail’ Gvozdyk in an exhilarating co-main event.
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