By Dan Ambrose: Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman is excited about seeing this Saturday’s match between Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and WBA super featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz on Showtime pay-per-view.
Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) and Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs) will be fighting in front of a live crowd at the Alamodome on Halloween on October 31st in San Antonio, Texas. That crowd is likely to be pro-Santa Cruz, and that could give him the energy to win the fight.
With both the WBA 130 and 135-pound titles being on the line, we don’t know if Davis will intentionally come in heavy over 130 and focus just on winning the fight.
Santa Cruz could steamroll Davis
“Leo, the way he likes to throw a lot of punches, Gervonta has power. So he might have to pick his spots, or if he stays in the pocket for too long, he may run into some trouble,” said Thurman to ESNEWS.
“People thought that Gervonta was having some conditioning issues. If he brings that into the ring against Leo, then Leo might be able to steamroll over him with all those punches and make it an easier night in being in the ring with Davis.
“It shouldn’t be an easy night. It’s a very skillful individual,” said Thurman. “From my history and how I was brought up, we always like to lean towards power. We like to support power.
“So I would give Davis the advantage in the fight, but I can see it being competitive and one that fans would really enjoy,” said Thurman.
Combining the weight loss for Davis and Santa Cruz’s high work rate could be a huge factor in the fight. If it goes to the later rounds, Santa Cruz will be the busier guy, and he’ll have more energy at the weight.
Jermall Charlo picks Tank to beat Leo
“They’re not saying s*** about Santa Cruz having a little twitch in his hand,” said Jermall Charlo to Fighthype. “He has a little twitch because his nerve has been hit. So I think Tank exposed a problem with Santa Cruz by timing him.
“I like Santa Cruz. He wants me to fight Canelo. He do good interviews about me and talks good about me. But he don’t win this one [against Tank]. Tank with the Mexican crowd being on Santa Cruz’s side in San Antonio.
“I like Tank’s explosiveness in this fight vs. Santa Cruz, and I been watching Tank for a while. He’s been getting in shape. You know what? I’m not going for either one of those mother f****.
“I like Santa Cruz more than I like Tank personally, but in this fight, I like Tank. I think Tank wins this fight,” said Charlo.
Going with Davis is the easy pick because he’s the younger, bigger, stronger, and faster of the two. But with Santa Cruz’s body punching, endurance, and high work rate, he’s got a chance of wearing Davis down.
