Gervonta Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz – 4 more weeks

By Boxing News - 09/22/2020 - Comments

Chris Williams: Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis has got four more weeks to take off weight and prepare for his title challenge against WBA super featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz on October 24 on SHOWTIME pay-per-view. Santa Cruz’s WBA 130-b title and Davis’ WBA secondary 135-lb straps will be on the line for this fight.

Please don’t ask me why the World Boxing Association has decided to have Davis’s WBA lightweight belt up for grabs when he’s fighting at 130 for the October 24 contest. Santa Cruz has no intention of moving up to 135 to defend the WBA belt if he beats Davis, so the WBA wastes their time with this move.

Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) admitted that he didn’t want to run one of the days this week, but he willed himself to get up and do it. He said ended up beating his best time. What that shows is that Davis, 25, is highly motivated to trim down to make the weight at 130.

It goes without saying that if Davis misses the weight, he won’t get credit if he defeats Santa Cruz. The WBA super featherweight title that Tank is fighting for is less important. What’s vital is for Davis to make weight, and then beat Santa Cruz.

Davis has to make weight at 130

It’s not as if Davis will hold onto the WBA 130lb belt for any length of time. He’s likely to treat it like he’s lake fishing. It’ll be catch and release, and moving on after that to the next target, which could be someone like WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney.

Boxing fans are pretty excited at seeing Davis and Santa Cruz mix it up, as both guys have been winning for so long.

Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs) has only lost one fight during his 14-year professional career, and that was a lose 12 round majority decision to Carl Frampton in 2016 in New York.

That wasn’t an apparent loss, though. For the boxing fans that remember seeing that fight, Santa Cruz had the crowd working against him on the night, as Frampton is said to have had a lot of his Irish fans attending.

Image: Gervonta Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz - 4 more weeks

Frampton fought, but he didn’t look like the winner at the end by a long shot. The judges gave Frampton all the close rounds and more than a few that weren’t close.

In their rematch in January 2017, Santa Cruz beat Frampton by a 12 round majority decision in Las Vegas, Nevada. That fight was more on neutral territory, as Frampton still had many his fans in attendance, but Santa Cruz also had a good number of supporters there.

Leo, with a five-fight winning streak

Santa Cruz has been dominating his opposition since his win over Frampton in 2017, but he’s also not fought anyone enormously talented. That’s the negative part of it. Santa Cruz has been winning, yeah, but his management has been carefully selecting his opponents.

Unfortunately, Santa Cruz hasn’t fought anyone good since his fight with Frampton three years ago.

In Santa Cruz’s last five contests, he’s beaten these fighters:

  • Miguel Flores
  • Rafael Rivera
  • Abner Mares
  • Chris Avalos
  • Carl Frampton

Mares was a quality fighter ten years ago, but he’s been over-the-hill since his 1st round knockout loss to Johnny Gonzalez in 2013. That defeat took something out of Mares, and Santa Cruz capitalized on that by whipping him in 2015.

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There was no point for Santa Cruz to fight Mares a second time in a rematch in 2018. That was a money fight. Fans weren’t demanding Santa Cruz face Mares again, as he’d already soundly beaten him three years earlier.

Santa Cruz didn’t want to fight Gary Russell Jr.

Santa Cruz was called out repeatedly by Gary Russell Jr, but he chose not to fight. It’s pretty clear to the boxing public that Santa Cruz wanted to no part of the talented Russell, so he decided not to fight him. It was a weak move on Santa Cruz’s part, but he knew his limitations as a fighter.

Santa Cruz’s only real chance of winning this fight against Davis is if he’s weight drained from having to meltdown to 130. That”s a possibility, but I wouldn’t bank on it if I were Santa Cruz.

Image: Gervonta Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz - 4 more weeks