Gervonta “Tank” Davis returns to the ring on Saturday night as one of boxing's most talked-about stars and surefire crowd-drawers, fighting for the WBA lightweight title against unbeaten Frank Martin.
Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) hasn't competed since his win over Ryan Garcia 14 months ago in arguably the biggest fight of 2023. The 29-year-old “Tank” probably wouldn't attract as much attention if he faced Martin (18-0, 12 KOs), who isn't on Garcia's level in terms of name recognition and fame, but Davis taking the fight is a big deal in the boxing world.
But as always, there's been a lot of chatter in the days leading up to the fight about whether or not everyone wants to see what Gervonta does next after this one, a fight that almost everyone expects him to win without much trouble.
Martin, also 29, is a good fighter. “The Ghost” has been fighting seriously and climbing up the weight classes over the past few years at 135 pounds, with wins over Romero Duno, Jackson Marinez, Michel Rivera and most recently Artem Harutyunyan, but he looked significantly more challenged in this fight than he did against his previous three opponents.
This struggle has led many to believe Martin isn't good enough to upset Davis, and that's a fair assumption, but it's worth keeping in mind the “style decides the fight” rule in boxing, as Davis fights in a completely different way to Harutyunyan.
Unfortunately for Martin, what he does best is what Davis does best, and “Tank” also has the power that Martin lacks. Davis is not an aggressive fighter by nature, and he takes time to understand his opponents, but once he does, he unleashes the power. There's a reason why he has such a high knockout percentage.
In some ways, Gervonta's return fight on Saturday felt a bit boring and ordinary because there was nothing exciting about it. It's even hard to imagine him coming into a fight underprepared and overlooking his opponent, because that's something he never does, no matter how favorably the match is stacked or how easy it seems.
It’s natural to want to look ahead, but are we any closer to Gervonta giving audiences the fights they want to see, rather than simply lining up the next PBC-affiliated fighter?
Boxing matches are often swamped with politics between various promoters and stables, and are further complicated by the broadcasting contracts that are tied to those promoters and stables.
But the actual star fighters end up having the most say, at least when they want to exert influence. That's how Tank vs. Ryan Garcia came about last year. It was the fighters, especially Garcia, who made the deal happen. They really can do anything. And with the Saudi Arabian government showing widespread interest in boxing, this is more true than ever. Money talks in boxing. And they have more money than anyone else.
A key bout for Davis at 135 pounds would be a long-awaited showdown with WBO titleholder Vasiliy Lomachenko or a matchup with WBC titleholder Shakur Stevenson. Both fighters are currently with Top Rank and ESPN. Davis vs. Lomachenko may come too late for Loma, who is still good but is past his prime. But Davis vs. Shakur is a matchup between two of the smartest ring tacticians in boxing, and they are exuding a fair amount of animosity in the world. It doesn't matter if it's true; what matters is whether enough people believe it's true.
Who knows when the next time we see Davis, one of those guys could be on the other side of the ring. Or maybe Davis moves up to 140 pounds to face someone like Devin Haney or Teofimo Lopez. There's always the unexpected. It might sound crazy now, but with Terence Crawford moving up, Davis could be looking to become a four-division champion in a bout for the vacant title against the currently weak welterweight division.
Whatever it may be, what we really hope to see is to see Davis face someone who is considered a serious threat to him. Boxing is at its best when there is actual disagreement about who should win the fight. Instead of carefully selecting opponents to slowly increase the market value of a single fighter, that has unfortunately been a big part of Davis' career and is probably what we'll see this weekend.
