By Sean Jones: Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis has revealed that his next fight will be for a world title but not at 130 or 135. With Tank not fighting in either of those weight divisions, it’s believed that he’s be moving down to 126 to challenge WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr (31-1, 18 KOs) for his title.
Tank (24-0, 23 KOs) began his career at 126 in 2013, but he quickly moved up to 130 in 2015. After six years, it might be a little difficult for the 26-year-old Davis to return.
When asked if his next fight will be at 130 or 135, Tank said, “Neither.” Tank then said, “He’s a world champion,” upon being asked for a hint about his next foe.
Of course, we don’t know for certain that Tank will be moving down to 126, but that makes a lot more sense than it does for him to be moving up to 140 to challenge for a title.
The only champion that Tank could challenge at 140 is WBA ‘regular’ belt-holder Mario Barrios.
Fighting him would do nothing for Tank, as he’s not well known and not viewed in the same light as the other two champions Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor. Those guys are fighting each other next, so there’s no possibility of Davis fighting either of them.
At featherweight, the only fighter that Tank would likely face is Gary Russell Jr. He’s the longest reigning champion at 126 and the best known. The other champions at featherweight are Can Xu [WBA regular], Leo Santa Cruz [WBA Super], and Emanuel Navarrete [WBO].
Davis just knocked out Santa Cruz in his last fight, so he’s not an option, and Navarrete is with Top Rank. Tank isn’t going to fight him.
Russell Jr isn’t a popular fighter, but he’s arguably superior to Yuriorkis Gamboa in terms of name recognition. It’s a fight that would garner a certain amount of attention from the hardcore boxing fans familiar with Russell Jr., But the casuals won’t take notice of this fight, and Tank might be wasting his time.
Tank doesn’t have many great choices for fights at 135 despite the division being a popular one right now. He was hoping to get a fight against Ryan Garcia until he backed out, thinking he would get a fight against Manny Pacquiao next.
Now that it appears the Pacquiao fight isn’t happening, Ryan isn’t expected to face Tank. The other Four Kings, Devin Haney and Tefoimo Lopez, haven’t shown interest in fighting Tank.
Showtime will be interested in having Tank fight Russell Jr on their network, but it’s not a pay-per-view-worthy fight. If Tank’s promoters at Mayweather Promotions choose to make the match against Russell Jr on PPV, it’ll be lucky if it brings in 50,000 buys. It’s not a sellable fight.
Russell Jr has picked up a reputation for fighting rarely once a year, which is another reason why he’s failed to become a popular champion. In Russell’s last three fights, he’s beaten Tugstsogt Nyambayar, Kiko Martinez, and Joseph Diaz Jr.
Tank Davis is coming off of a spectacular sixth-round knockout of Leo Santa Cruz last October.