Gervonta Davis defended his World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight title for the fifth time after beating Frank Martin in the main event of the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) evening at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The fight, which took place at midnight on Saturday, once again consolidated tank Davis as one of the greats of contemporary boxing.
The beginning of the fight showed a calm Davis, carefully observing Martin, who seemed to come out with everything in the first round. During the first rounds, Davis handled the pace of the fight calmly, without displaying its notorious power. However, in the third round, Gervonta cornered Martin in a corner, making clear his dominance and control over the ring.
As the fight progressed, the Baltimore native increased his pressure. In the fourth round, Davis’ punches began to impact Martin heavily, who seemed increasingly slower and was simply resisting. The feeling of an imminent knockout became tangible in the seventh round, when Martin remained covered in his corner without offering solid defense. Davis continued to pick his shots precisely and powerfully, keeping the crowd on its feet with every punch in the sixth, seventh and eighth rounds.
Finally, in the eighth round, a powerful left straight to Martin’s face, followed by a right hook, he sent him to the canvas in a forceful way, causing the euphoria of the attending public. To celebrate his victory, Davis climbed the ropes of the ring and executed an impeccable backflip, unleashing general applause.
“I just had to come in at the right time. You know me, he was fighting my reach, he had a decent jab, he moved around a lot, you know what I mean, I just had to take him down as the rounds went on. He threw more punches early but I don’t think he was landing many of those shots. It was definitely like touching my gloves and stuff like that, that was his whole game plan,” the undefeated champion acknowledged in the subsequent press conference.
This fight marked the return of Gervonta Davis after a period of 14 months without fighting, the longest break of his professional career. His last performance had been a knockout victory over Ryan Garcia in April 2023. After his recent victory, Davis finds himself with multiple options for his next fight, including possible matchups against the International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion. Vasyl Lomachenkothe champion of the World Boxing Council (WBC) Shakur Stevenson and the champion of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Denys Berinchyk.
Ryan García was also listed among the possible rivalsThe American accompanied Davis on his walk to the ring wearing provocative clothing with the legends “No. 1 fan of tank” and “Give me revenge, bitch.”. After Davis’ victory, García went to the ring to talk to him, which sparked speculation on social media about a possible rematch.
It should be noted that this was the 29-year-old boxer’s first fight after turning 44 days in a detention center in Baltimore for violating the terms of a house arrest, resulting from an incident in 2020 in which four people were injured, including a pregnant woman, and fled the scene
With his victory over Frank Martin, Gervonta Davis consolidates his position again at the pinnacle of light boxing (30 wins, 28 by KO and zero losses) and left his followers wondering what his next challenge in the ring would be.
