By Kenneth Friedman: Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis won’t be fading after five rounds against Leo El Terremoto” Santa Cruz in their fight on tober 24 on Showtime pay-per-view, according to Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe.
He reacted on Wednesday to the news that former four-division world champion Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs) is predicting that Rank (23-0, 22 KOs_ will have nothing left physically by the end of round five.
Ellerbe doubts whether Santa Cruz, 32, really believes what he’s saying with that prediction, and he feels it’s just bluster on his career in coming up with some wishful thinking.
Santa Cruz might not make it to the fifth round with the way Tank is looking right now in training camp, and he’s going to need to come up with a strategy to keep him from getting clobbered by the Baltimore native.
Santa Cruz is confident
“He’s working himself into shape, and he knows the task at hand, and he’s ready to go do his thing,” said Mayweather Promotions CEO Ellerbe to Fighthype on Gervonta Davis.
“I can’t wait until October 24. The fans are going to witness a spectacular Tank Davis. Tank is special, and you’ve witnessed some of the sparrings. You see flashes of where he’s going, and just wait for it to come together.
“I’m telling you. October 24 is going to be a special, special night. I saw that,” said Ellerbe in the comment from Santa Cruz this week about his belief that Tank will gas out after five rounds.
“He’s [Santa Cruz] very confident, and he sees something. He’s a tremendous fighter, he has a lot of confidence and most importantly, he has a lot of experience. And he’s getting himself ready and prepared, and he feels he can beat Tank. And Tank feels he can do the same thing to him.
“So you’ve got two guys with two different styles, and it’s going to be a very exciting fight,” said Ellerbe.
What hurts Santa Cruz’s chances of winning this fight is how poor he looked in his recent performance against Miguel Flores last November in Las Vegas. Santa Cruz moved up to 130 after holding world titles at 126, 122 and 118.
Leo didn’t perform at the same level that wed seen from him in the past when he was fighting in the other divisions, and it was lucky for him that he fought Flores instead of a good fighter.
Santa Cruz appears to have finally moved up to a weight class that his body doesn’t support, and he’s going to have problems when he gets inside the ring with Tank. If Tank doesn’t face, as Leo suggests he will, he’s going to have a real fight on his hands.
“Ellerbe doubts Santa Cruz believes Tank will gas
“Do you really believe that he thinks that?” said Ellerbe in asking whether Santa Cruz really believes that Tank will gas out. “I disagree. He [Santa Cruz] knows at this level, especially for a pay-per-view fight, he’s not going to gas out after five rounds.
“He’s got to know that. He [Santa Cruz] believes whatever he believes, and he has a lot of reasons to be confident, but more importantly, he believes in himself. That’s the most important thing.
“This is a fight that he’s wanted for some time, so h’s [Santa Cruz] is getting exactly what he wants. I want to see what he brings to the table on the 24th [of October], but I know that he’s an exceptional fighter, and he’s a guy that I know very well.
“I know he’s coming to bring his best, and Tank is going to have to be ready,” said Ellerbe.
Tank may fade at some point in the Santa Cruz fight, but that won’t be until after he’s dished out a lot of punishment.
Santa Cruz may be punch drunk by the time Davis empties his Tank, and the referee may stop it long before it reaches that point.