By Dan Ambrose: Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe hinted on Tuesday that Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis won’t be fighting Teofimo Lopez when he returns to the 135-lb division following his title challenge of WBA ‘regular’ 140-lb champion Mario Barrios on June 26th.
It’s unclear why Ellerbe isn’t eager to make a fight between Gervonta (24-0, 23 KOs) and the unbeaten IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight champion Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs).
That a fight would interest the boxing public a lot more than Tank fighting the little-known WBA secondary 140-lb champion Barrios (26-0, 17 KOs).
There are not too many casual boxing fans that have heard of Barrios, and he’s not rated highly by the hardcore fans. The Davis-Barrios fight on June 26th is viewed as a cherry-pick by Tank to win a title 140, so he can brag that he’s a three-division world champion.
Barrios is arguably the only way Tank could win a title at 140 right now because if you put him in with the undisputed light welterweight champion Josh Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs), he would likely lose.
When Tank Davis returns to the 135-lb division, Ellerbe said they would be interested in making fights against all the top guys, but not against the guy with the titles.
If Mayweather Promotions aren’t going to let Tank fight the best guy Teofimo or even the second-best fighter in Vasily Lomachenko, what’s the point? The fans don’t want to see Tank continued to pad his record against old fighters like Yuriorkis Gamboa and Leo Santa Cruz.
They also don’t want to see Tank cherry-pick paper champions like Mario Barrios.
Ellerbe hints Teofimo won’t get Tank fight
“I think the fight ends in a knockout,” said Ellerbe to Fighthype in giving his prediction on the Gervonta Davis vs. Mario Barrios fight on June 26th.
“Most definitely,” Ellerbe said when asked if he’s predicting Tank Davis to be the one scoring the knockout.
“Any of those guys, all of them are excellent fighters,” Ellerbe said when asked who Gervonta will face next at 135 when he returns to the division after the Barrios fight. “It all depends. We’re going to put all the cards on the table and make the biggest fight possible.
“I know who it won’t be. That other clown,” said Ellerbe in hinting that Gervonta won’t fight Teofimo Lopez. “But that’s a whole another story,” Ellerbe said when asked if it’s Teofimo.
It’s easy to see why Ellerbe might not want to allow Tank Davis to fight Teofimo. He would likely lose to Teofimo if that fight were made right now.
You could say the same thing about Davis if he were to fight Vasily Lomachenko, who would be a huge upgrade from the guys he’s been fighting.
Leonard insists Barrios will be a tough fight
“It’s just a dangerous fight, and again, I’m just being honest. This is not a fight that I picked,” Ellerbe said in making sure he gets that comment out there to give him cover just in case things go badly for Tank against Barrios.
“Do I think Tank is going to win convincingly? Most definitely, and he’s working very hard in camp to do that, but it’s a very dangerous fight.
“By no means is this a fight where Tank walks in and walks through him,” Ellerbe said about Gervonta’s match against Barrios. “When you’re talking about moving up a whole another weight class.
“It’s a tough fight. There’s nothing easy about fighting Mario Barrios. And if Tank is able to handle his business, he should get the credit that he truly deserves for moving up a whole another weight class.
“His [Tank Davis] last fight was at 130, and now he’s fighting in a championship fight at 140,” said Ellerbe.
Barrios will be tough for Tank simply because of his size and the fact that he’ll be able to take a lot of punishment and dish some of his own. Just by hanging around into the championship rounds, Barrios will make it tough on Tank.
The lack of size for the 5’5 1/2″ Tank Davis will be a problem for him against Barrios, and it would be worse if he fought Josh Taylor, Jose Ramirez, and Regis Prograis. Tank would likely lose to all three of those guys. Hence, he’s not planning on fighting any of them.
