Promoter Leonard Ellerbe was laying it on thick with the praising of Frank Martin, practically handing the guy his ‘Next Victim’ badge for Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis to defend the secondary WBA lightweight title against on June 15th on Amazon Prime PPV.
When Ellerbe was asked point blank if #2 WBA Martin (18-0, 12 KOs), he quickly backed away, looking skittish like the 15th century Grand Inquisitor was interrogating him.
Martin’s Awful Performance Doesn’t Phase Ellerbe
The boxing public has been critical of 29-year-old Martin being Tank Davis’s (29-0, 27 KOs) next opponent to defend his secondary WBA title because he looked so poor in his last fight against Artem Harutyunyan. Martin came close to losing that contest last July if not for a 12th-round rally. He was a mess. That’s the kind of performance that makes Tank’s team salivate, apparently.
Between laying on Martin’s compliments hot and heavy, Ellerbe admits that he can’t beat Tank, which is pretty obvious. Martin barely beat fringe contender Harutyunyan, so he can’t beat Tank or any other top-ten contenders.
Ellerbe’s Guide to Dodging Questions
“When Tank is ready to let you guys what he’s going to do and where he’s going to do it at, he’s going to do it,” said a typically evasive Leonard Ellerbe to Fight Hub TV about Gervonta Davis’ next fight.
“Frank Martin is a good fighter, he’s a very good fighter. Some of the thing I’ve been hearing about him. People want to make excuses now, talking about this fighter is not that good. Nah, I don’t want to hear none of that. All of these fighters are good,” said Ellerbe defending Frank Martin due to fans criticizing him for looking slow, robotic, and poor in his last fight against fringe contender Artem Harutyunyan.
Look, we get it. Tank is the money-making machine for his team, and they’re not going to ruin things by putting him in with someone with actual ability who could turn off the machinery. However, fans are tired of these mismatches for Tank, and they want to see him fight real-quality opposition.
“All these fighters are good. Frank Martin ain’t no chump. He fights his a** off. He can’t beat Tank, though. He’s [Martin] a good boxer, he’s a slick boxer, but Tank can do all that. Tank does what he does. He has an extremely high IQ.
“He can do it all. He can box, he can bang. Frank Martin is a very good fighter. I’m really excited for when he [Tank] gets back in the ring.”
