Tank Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz will have WBA 130 & 135-lb titles on the line for Oct.24

By Boxing News - 07/22/2020 - Comments

By Allan Fox: In a unique situation, the WBA will have both their 130 and 135 titles on the line for the October 24 fight between Leo Santa Cruz and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. This move by the WBA makes them look bad, as it somehow lessens the prestige of holding one of their titles.

How does the winner call themselves a champion in both weight classes when the fight is taking place at 130?

The WBA has some kind of reasoning for wanting two titles in two different weight classes to be at stake for the Davis vs. Santa Cruz fight. Whatever way you want to spin it, the WBA looks bad in wanting this to happen.

Santa Cruz has already received a massive amount of criticism for being allowed to fight Miguel Flores or the vacant WBA Super World super featherweight title last November.

Many boxing fans feel that Santa Cruz was gifted the WBA title, as Flores had lost two out of his last four fights going into that match. The WBA let Santa Cruz fight Flores rather than the talented Chris Colbert or Rene Alvarado.

Image: Tank Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz will have WBA 130 & 135-lb titles on the line for Oct.24

Wrong move on the WBA’s part

When a fighter can earn a world title without even competing in that weight class, it’s pathetic. It’s like getting a college degree without ever attending school.

At this point, Davis and Santa Cruz might want to rethink the idea of having the WBA title on the line for their fight. They don’t need the belt to validate their match, considering both guys are well known with the boxing public and are beyond the need of the WBA secondary trinket titles.

Santa Cruz and Davis would show a lot of class by tossing away their respective WBA titles and sell the fight based on the match-up. Both guys are at the level where they don’t need a world title to validate them in the eyes of the paying boxing public.

Even though Davis vs. Santa Cruz fight will be at super featherweight for Leo’s WBA ‘regular’ title; the WBA has decided that Tank’s WBA ‘regular’ 135-lb title will be up for grabs.

Having two titles on the line for Davis-Santa Cruz is a black eye for the WBA to make this move because it’s a mockery of holding a world title.

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Will Tank Davis make weight?

As a result, the winner of Davis vs. Santa Cruz match will hold titles in two different weight classes, the 130 and 135-lb divisions. It’s rather silly and a waste of time for the World Boxing Association to make this move, considering that the Davis-Santa Cruz winner will immediately vacate one of those titles.

For example, if Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) beats Santa Cruz to capture his WBA super featherweight belt, he’s NOT going to keep that title. He’ll vacate it because it’s too complicated for Davis to make weight at 130, and most of the top guys in the division are with Top Rank.

Davis wouldn’t be able to fight any of the Top Rank fighters at 130, and he would be spinning his wheels going nowhere with his career if he elects to stay in that weight class.

Tank might not make weight for the Santa Cruz fight, so the WBA 130-lb title might end up as vacant if he wins.  Davis won’t be eligible to fight for the WBA super featherweight belt if he fails to make weight. So, if Santa Cruz loses the fight, his WBA 130lb title will fall vacant.

Image: Tank Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz will have WBA 130 & 135-lb titles on the line for Oct.24

It’ll look silly if Santa Cruz is allowed to keep his WBA title after losing to an overweight Davis. It wouldn’t matter that Davis failed to hit the right weight for the Santa Cruz contest. Just beating Santa Cruz would make it look wretched if the WBA allowed Leo to keep his WBA 130-lb strap afterward.

Davis vs. Santa Cruz on Showtime PPV

In Santa Cruz’s situation, he doesn’t have the size, power, or the defensive ability to handle the top 135-lb fighters like Vasily Lomachenko, Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, and Ryan Garcia. Santa Cruz, 5’7″, gets hit too much, and he would take a beating if he chose to stay at 135, and fought any of those guys.

The news of the Davis and Santa Cruz fight was announced earlier today for a battle between them on October 24 on Showtime pay-per-view at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Davis, 25, will be fighting for the first time on pay-per-view, and it’s possible that from this point on, the boxing public will need to pay to see him fight. Santa Cruz is an OK opponent for Davis, but he could have done better by fighting Lomachenko or Teofimo.

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Those are the type of names that Tank needs for him to pull in a lot of PPV buys. However, Loma and Teoifmo both are with Top Rank, and they compete on ESPN.

See, that right there makes it almost impossible for Davis to fight Loma and Teofimo. That’s why he’s facing Leo Santa Cruz, even though he didn’t look like a world-beater in his last fight on November 23 against Miguel Flores.