A ghost walks through the tapestry every time Gervonta Davis steps on it. A magnetic energy radiates from the ring. A hypnotic fascination enthralls those who surround that 40 square meter quadrangle. No one wants to blink for fear of missing the highlight. That sensory experience that stings so many boxing fans will be repeated this Saturday, when the lightweight champion of the World Boxing Association expose your crown before Frank Martin in the main event of the 100th event of this sport that will take place in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The evening will include three more World Cup matches, It can be seen on ESPN 2 from 9 p.m.
Davis is probably not the best pound-for-pound boxer today, despite the fact that he defined himself that way this week (he placed behind the Mexican in his ranking Saul Canelo Alvarezthe American David Benavidez and the japanese Naoya Inoue, in that order). He is also not the fighter with the most refined technical background nor the owner of the best defensive tools. Instead, He is one of the most exciting fighters of our time.
The prodigal son of rough Baltimore has a gift that pays well in this business: the knockout. In an impeccable career so far, 27 of his 29 victories were on the fast track. His showmanship in the ring and his striking charisma (somewhat reserved, but seductive) made him a man who fills stadiums wherever he goes and sells tens of thousands of pay-per-view (PPV) tickets for each of its presentations.
His critics allege that his career has been too careful and that he has not faced the best of the categories in which he competed (he was also super featherweight and super lightweight champion). As a counterargument, it is worth mentioning that of his last seven rivals, six had been, were then or would later be world champions: the Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboathe Mexicans Leo Santa Cruz and Isaac Cruzthe Americans Mario Barrios and Rolando Romeroand the Dominican Hector Luis Garcia. Between them they had, at the time of facing Davis, a combined record of 145 wins, 4 losses and 2 draws. They were all knocked out, except the pitbull Cross.
The only one of the last seven opponents of Tank who did not serve as ecumenical monarch (beyond an ephemeral interim term) was the dissolute Ryan Garciawho less than two months ago knocked out Devin Haney, super lightweight champion of the World Boxing Council and considered one of the best on the planet. García gave up against Davis in the seventh episode of a fight that brought together 20,842 spectators at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (which left 22.8 million dollars at the box office) and generated sales of 1.2 million PPV packages . Both figures were the highest of 2023 in boxing events.
That fight took place on April 22 of last year. Since then, 420 days have passed in which the left-hander, who long ago ceased to be the protégé of Floyd Mayweather (in fact, today they are declared enemies), he did not climb a rope again. That period was not just vacation and training: he had to spend 44 days in a detention center in his hometown for having failed to comply with the terms of the contract. house arrest who had been arrested for a road incident.
On November 5, 2020, Davis, driving a Lamborghini Urus, ran a red light, crashed into a Toyota Solara at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. and Washington boulevards in downtown Baltimore, and then crashed. crashed into the fence of a minimarket. Four occupants of the Toyota (including a pregnant woman) were injured, but the boxer did not assist them, but immediately left the scene.
In February 2023, Tank He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in suspended prison and 90 days of house arrest., in addition to 200 hours of community service. He was to serve house arrest in the house of his coach, Calvin Ford, but a few days later he left the house and settled first in a hotel and then in a loft located in a residential complex in Locust Point, in the south of Baltimore. Upon detecting noncompliance, Althea Handy, the judge who had sentenced him, revoked his benefit and forced him to complete the 90 days of arrest in a detention center.
That was not the first contact with the American judicial system for the lightweight world champion, who had also been involved in situations of street aggression and sexist violence against Andretta Smothershis ex-partner and mother of his eldest daughter, Gervanni. Although none of these events came to trial, they have all created obstacles in his sports career and have led to multiple questions.
Oblivious to this noise, Davis, 29, was smiling, jocular and more talkative than usual since he arrived in Las Vegas on Tuesday, where many are already speculating about a unification duel before the end of the year with the Ukrainian Vasily Lomachenkochampion of the International Boxing Federation, or with the American Shakur Stevenson, monarch of the World Boxing Council. To do this, the Baltimore boxer must first overcome the challenge that Martin will present to him this Saturday.
The challenger is also 29 years old, was born in Detroit, is based in Indianapolis and conducts his camps in Dallas with the prestigious coach Derrick James. During his adolescence he practiced wrestling and American football, and only began boxing at age 17, when he was finishing high school. After a career as an amateur in which he won the prestigious competition Golden Gloves in 2016, he debuted as a professional in October 2017 and since then he had 18 victories (12 before the limit). The most resonant were the last two: against the Dominican Michael Rivera and in front of the Armenian Artem Harutyunyanwinner of a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games representing Germany.
The Ghost, who is also left-handed and ranked second in the WBA lightweight rankings, was Gervonta’s training partner in 2020 at Floyd Mayweather’s gym. With that knowledge in tow, the candidate is excited about hitting the ground running on Saturday. However, Davis distrusts his rival’s thirst for victory. “He’s not interested in winning, he’s just worried that I won’t knock him out.”, he surmised. Of course, she predicted that Martin will not hear the final bell and that he will be able to experience the orgasmic sensation of the knockout again. “It feels amazing. It’s better than sex”, he assured on Wednesday.
