Gervonta “Tank” Davis will return to the ring for the first time since April 2023 when he faces Frank Martin in a Prime Video pay-per-view main event on Saturday. Davis, arguably “the face of boxing,” will defend his WBA lightweight title.
Davis became one of the sport’s most popular fighters while rising through the ranks and building a reputation as one of boxing’s best power punchers. Those who rely too much on Davis’ power miss the patient, all-around game he has built to create openings to land the big shots that finish opponents.
In his last outing, Davis crushed fellow young superstar Ryan Garcia in a catchweight bout, scoring two knockdowns, with a body shot for the second keeping Garcia on the canvas for the referee’s 10 count.
Davis was already a superstar in the Garcia fight, but the victory took him to another level. For years, Davis had talked about big fights with the other young stars of the lightweight division, but those meetings had not come to fruition. When the opportunity finally presented itself, he made the most of it.
In some ways, the Martin fight is a disappointing throwback. Davis has discussed the idea of fights with WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson or former undisputed champion Devin Haney, but instead finds himself against Martin, a fighter who deserves respect for his talent but who brings very little value to promoting the fight. (read more about why this fight was made here).
“I’m going to break you. I’m going to share all of this right before your eyes. Every time I tell people something is going to happen, what happens?” Davis said during the final press conference this week. “It hasn’t even hit him yet. He’ll see on Saturday. It’s going to hit him. Especially when I hit him. What does he bring to the table that I haven’t seen?”
Martin is a solid fighter with speed, power and tactical know-how. He did the one thing fighters must do to open the door to a championship opportunity: win.
At 18-0, Martin has steadily climbed the rankings, culminating in a career-best performance in a one-sided beating of Michel Rivera in December 2022. This bout was considered an almost 50/50 fight before the fighters enter the ring, but Martin argued to win all 12 rounds.
Unfortunately, Martin took a step back in his next fight, battling to a close decision victory over the unheralded Artem Harutyunyan. Martin was unusually passive for many rounds, allowing Harutyunyan to remain competitive on the cards. In the end, Martin put together a few good rounds throughout the sequence and scored a knockdown in round 12 to avoid the upset.
Martin will have to look a lot more like the man who ran up the score against Rivera than the one who fought Harutyunyan if he wants to defeat one of the most talented pound-for-pound men in the sport.
“It can go down however he wants. If he overacts, like I said, you’ll see Gervonta Davis get knocked out. If he overacts, he’ll be out, period. If he acts exaggerated, he will be eliminated, period he is crazy, he will sleep,” Martin said. “Calvin tells me to push these buttons, well I’m going to push every button he has. Come out and expect a good fight.
There are four title fights in total on the main card. Beyond the main event, the fight received the most attention this week with the debut of former super middleweight champion David Benavidez at 175 pounds when he takes on former welterweight titleholder heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Benavidez continued to press for a shot against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, but the Mexican superstar continued to stiff him at every turn. Now he has the chance to win a share of the title in hopes of becoming undisputed at light heavyweight.
“To be honest with you, I did everything in my power to make this fight happen,” Benavidez told CBS Sports during Thursday’s media day. “I beat the fighters they told me I couldn’t beat. I was the No. 1 contender for the last three years, but my hands were tied.
“I did everything in my power to make this happen. The only reason this fight isn’t happening is because Canelo doesn’t want this to happen, because he knows damn well that when he confronts me, I will take all his titles Home with me.”
Another title fight scheduled for Saturday night sees Gary Antuanne Russell take on Alberto Puello for the vacant WBC interim junior welterweight title. Russell, younger brother of former WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr., is a perfect 17-0 with all of those victories coming by knockout. Puello is no slouch himself, however, as he also enters with a perfect record at 22-0 with 10 knockouts. And the opening match of the PPV sees Carlos Adames looking to defend his WBC middleweight title against veteran Terrell Gausha.
Russell noted that his extended layoff had a lot to do with his father’s sudden death in May 2022 and how to deal with it.
“I had to deal with a lot of mental issues, the passing of my dad, just getting used to him not being in the gym, getting acclimated to my older brother who is now the head coach. But it has nothing to do with your father I look like we were all still learning, there’s no limit to learning For me, having that understanding, it. It’s like (Gary Russell Jr.) is still learning, (Gary Allen Russell) is still learning and now I have to watch as a teacher because I have to continually put myself in the position of a student if I want to grow, that in. self brings a lot of vulnerability.
Let’s take a look at the rest of the undercard before making a prediction and choosing the main event.
Davis vs. Martin fight card, odds
- Gervonta Davis (c) -700 vs. Frank Martin +475, WBA lightweight title
- David Benavidez -650 vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk +450, vacant WBC interim light heavyweight title
- Gary Antuanne Russell -700 vs. Alberto Puello +475, vacant WBC interim junior welterweight title
- Carlos Adames (c) -750 vs. Terrell Gausha +500, WBC middleweight title
Displaying information
- Date: June 15
- Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena – Las Vegas
- Start time: 8 p.m. ET
- How to watch: Premium Video PPV | Price: $74.95
Prediction
Although Martin is a step below the level of name fans want to see Davis face – especially for modern pay-per-view prices – he is a good fighter who would be expected to beat all the lightweights , except the elite. The problem is that Davis is at that elite level. There’s really nothing Martin does that Davis doesn’t do better. Because of this, Martin has to hope that Davis is rusty after his time out of the ring, which included a stint in prison, and can’t get going or can’t find his timing.
It’s more likely that this fight will play out in a very predictable way. Davis tends to start slowly, feeling out his opponent’s speed and controlling his own timing while looking for openings. It’s a Vasiliy Lomachenko-style “data download” approach for Davis at the start of fights and it gives brief glimpses of hope to opponents, as it did for Garcia and Rolando Romero. Then the switch flips and it’s all downhill from there as Davis starts landing frequent and powerful landings.
Expect Martin to bank a few early rounds before Davis cracks him with a few good shots and it then becomes a game of survival. Once Martin gets a little worn out, Davis probably gets a stoppage in the mid to late rounds. Pick: Gervonta Davis via TKO8
Who wins Davis vs. Martin, and which method of victory is a must-have? Visit SportsLine now to see Peter Kahn’s best bets for Saturday, all from the boxing pundit who netted his subscribers a profit of more than $4,000, and find out.