By Robert Addams: Gervonta “Tank” Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) is saying that he’s ready to take on the “big names” in the 135 pound division following his 12th round stoppage win over injured Yuriorkis Gamboa (30-3, 18 KOs) last Saturday night at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
(Photo credit: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME)
Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said that Davis’ next fight will definitely be on pay-per-view. If that’s the case, then he’s going to need to make a major upgrade of the level of his opposition. He can’t fight someone like Gamboa again if wants to lure boxing fans to purchase the fight on PPV.
This was Davis’ first fight in the lightweight division, and the reactions from boxing fans on his performance was mixed.
Davis won the vacant WBA ‘regular’ lightweight title with his victory over the 38-year-old Gamboa, and he plans on using his title to get bigger fights.
The 25-year-old Davis looked sluggish against the injured Gamboa, and only sporadically gave brief glimpses of the fighter he’s been when he was campaigning as a super featherweight. Davis’ power didn’t travel up with him to the lightweight division.
Gervonta’s next fight to be on pay-per-view – Ellerbe
“It was a great card from start to bottom,” said Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe. “It was a terrific turnout, and it just shows you what kind of star power Gervonta Davis has, and this train is going to keep on moving and keep on trucking. Tank’s next fight will be on pay-per-view.
“He’s shown the fans across the world what kind of star power he has. He has terrific star power. He put on a terrific, he puts behinds in the seats, and the fans tune in because they want to see excitement, and that’s what he brings to the table. We’ll go back to the drawing board, and have a discussion with Al [Haymon], and Tank’s team, and we’ll go from there,” said Ellerbe.
If Ellerbe is serious about Tank Davis’ next fight to be televised on pay-per-view, then it’s going to require for him to battle one of the more popular fighters in the lightweight division for it to sell. There’s only 3 or 4 guys in the lightweight division that have a good sized
These are the likely small pool of opponents that Mayweather Promotions will be selecting from for Davis:
- Robert Easter – he’s got to be viewed as the lead candidate for Gervonta’s next fight
- Luke Campbell – doubtful
- Rances Barthelemy
- Jorge Linares
- Terry Flanagan
- Zaur Abdullaev
- Jhonny Gonzalez – another old timer
Easter wouldn’t be a good choice for Gervonta to fight on PPV
The problem with former IBF lightweight champion Easter Jr. (28-1-1, 14 KOs) being selected for Tank Davis is the fact that he was schooled by Mikey Garcia last year. Mikey beat Easter Jr. by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision on July 28, 2018, and the fight wasn’t competitive.
Since that loss, Easter has won only one fight in beating Adrian Granados by a 10 round unanimous decision last October. Easter fought to a 12 round draw against Rances Barthelemy last April in a failed attempt to capture the vacant IBO and WBA secondary lightweight straps.
Even if Easter were still unbeaten, he wouldn’t be a great option for a pay-per-view bout for Tank Davis, because he lacks a huge fan base. Easter might have a big fan base in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, but he’s not a household name nationwide in the U.S.
Davis not entirely pleased with his performance
“I just had to lighten up a little bit on my punches, and break him down,” said Davis on his win over Gamboa. “I think Gamboa was a great opponent. He had experience. When I had him hurt, he knew how to get out of there. When I had him hurt, he was not quitting, you know?
They say in his corner, he wanted to quit, but his coach was like, ‘Nah.’ I don’t like being booed. When I was figuring him out, that’s when I showed him I can touch him whenever I want to,” said Davis.
“It wasn’t a great performance. but it was an OK performance,” said Davis. “And it was a packed house, going in there and going 12 rounds with an experienced fighter like Gamboa, that everybody wrote off but I didn’t. He showed that he’s a champion. He didn’t come here for nothing,” Davis said of Gamboa.
Davis shouldn’t be pleased with his performance, because it took him 12 rounds to stop the injured Gamboa. The Cuban fighter tore his right Achilles in the 2nd round after being knocked down by Gervonta, and he was forced to fight with one good leg the rest of the way.
Gamboa landed a lot of shots, and marked up Davis’ face. What was alarming was how tired the 25-year-old Tank Davis looked in the later rounds. He looked exhausted at the slow pace of the fight, and appeared winded at times. Davis reportedly rehydrated to 146 lbs after making weight on his second attempt on the scales at 134 3/4 lbs.
Tank Davis ready for 135-lb champions
“They’re the champions, and they’re the big names in my division. I’m ready for them all,” said Davis on Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez and Vasiliy Lomachenko. “I believe I’m number 1. Let me just say that, and my record shows and my accomplishment shows. I’m definitely looking for the big names.
“I won’t know until I get in there with them,” Tank Davis said when asked which fighter will give him the biggest challenge. “I ain’t going to lie. Even going into this fight, I knew Gamboa was going to be tough, and wasn’t going to lay down. He was in my corner during the fight, and we were on the same page and he got me through the fight,” said Davis about Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Ellerbe said he’s going to sit down with Al Haymon, and Mayweather to discuss the next opponent for Tank Davis. But if they’re going to shy away from the talented guys, then they’ll wind up with someone like Easter Jr. Unfortunately, Tank Davis vs. Easter Jr. isn’t a pay-per-view worthy fight. It’s more of a lateral move from last Saturday’s fight. You can argue that Gamboa is better known in the U.S than Easter Jr. is.
These are the quality lightweights:
- Vasiliy Lomachenko
- Ryan Garcia
- Teofimo Lopez
- Luke Campbell
- Javier Fortuna
- Masayoshi Nakatani
Of that bunch, only Lomachenko, Teofimo and Ryan Garcia are pay-per-view worthy opponents for Tank Davis.
Gervonta wished he’d let his hands go more against Gamboa
“Probably throw more punches,” Gervonta said when asked what he wish he’d done differently in the fight with Gamboa. “Everyone thought I was tired, but I was touching him up. When I was touching him up, I didn’t want to gas out.
“Once you know you can’t knock somebody out, you don’t continue to throw hard shots,” said said. “So that’s what I was doing. They said his game plan was to tire me out, and they said they wanted to take me to deep water. I can’t get tired, and come back and retaliate,” Gervonta said.
The reason Davis didn’t throw more punches is because he was fat, and not in good enough shape to fight at a fast pace without gassing. In addition, Davis is so used to knocking out his hapless opposition early in his fights. When he finally fought someone halfway decent in the injured Gamboa, he was unable to knock him out until late.
Davis showed he can go rounds
“Atlanta is a great city. The hospitality this week has been phenomenal, and the fans have been phenomenal,” said Ellerbe. “They embraced us coming into this great city. There hadn’t been a championship fight here for more than 20 years. Holyfield and Vaughn Bean was the last title fight here, and we have seen, the fans embraced Tank. So we definitely are coming back to Atlanta.
“He showed he can go rounds,” said Ellberbe about Tank Davis. “Boxing fans are used to seeing his fights go short, and me personally, I was glad to see Tank go some rounds with a tough veteran. You’ve got to give Gamboa credit, and you heard me throughout the promotion, this is a dangerous fight. You guys have written Gamboa off. But I have seen, I went to his camp twice, and I saw what he was working on. Again, he wasn’t a unified champion, and he wasn’t an Olympic Gold medalist for no reason.
“He has a tremendous amount of experience, and he was able to go those rounds based on his experience and conditioning,” said Ellerbe about Gamboa. “It just goes to show you what a great champion he is. And people talk, ‘Oh, he’s been dropped this many times.’ Okay, that happens, but it didn’t happen tonight. He just showed you he’s a great champion, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him and his team,” said Ellerbe about Yuriorkis.
Davis showed that he can go 12 rounds against a fighter with a busted Achilles, and that’s not something to be proud of. Would Davis go 12 rounds against a healthy Gamboa? We don’t know.
Tank Davis in top 3 in biggest draws in the sport
“Three fights this year, and three sell outs in three different markets,” Ellerbe said about Gervonta. “I don’t know where his next fight will be, but I guarantee you we’ll have a sellout no matter where we’re at. He’s shown you what kind of terrific drawing power he has, not just in the United States, and we’ve done in England and done the same thing.
“Tank is one of the biggest draws in the sport, and he’s definitely in the top three. And again, he’s still at the young age of 25, and we’re just getting this thing rolling. The fans have embraced him, and the best is yet to come,” said Ellberbe about Tank Davis.
It’s hard to believe that Davis is among the top 3 popular fighters in boxing, because he’s not fought on pay-per-view. These are the top America based fighters:
- Canelo Alvarez
- Gennadiy Golovkin
- Deontay Wilder
- Errol Spence Jr.
- Keith Thurman
- Shawn Porter
- Danny Garcia
- Jermell Charlo
- Jermall Charlo
- Terence Crawford
- Mikey Garcia
