Gervonta Davis returns from prison to face Frank Martin

Calvin Ford addressed Gervonta “Tank” Davis' opponent directly.

“I want you to push his buttons,” Ford told Frank Martin, who will challenge Davis for the World Boxing Association lightweight title Saturday night in Las Vegas. “You haven't seen it yet. I know what's under this hood. We have to show the world what kind of fighter 'Tank' Davis really is.”

Ford knows that better than anyone. The trainer has seen nearly every punch thrown by the 29-year-old Davis as a boy at the Upton Boxing Center in West Baltimore. For years, he has argued that Davis, despite building an unbeaten record with one of the most fervent fans in boxing, hasn't played his best yet.

Can Martin, unbeaten but inexperienced on boxing's biggest stage, unlock the peak of Davis?

Davis tried to hint at that during a tense pre-fight news conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, yelling at Martin while others were speaking and promising to “ruin you.”

Was this genuine animosity, or simply a sign that Davis had learned how to sell pay-per-view fights against opponents unknown to anyone but the most dedicated boxing fans?

That wasn't a concern the last time Davis faced fellow TV-friendly young star Ryan Garcia, and in arguably his biggest main event appearance to date, he lived up to the expectations by stopping the hard-hitting Garcia both on the draw and in the ring.

Now, after a tumultuous year that saw him serve more than six weeks in prison in his hometown, he's back looking to show he's lost nothing as a fighter or an attraction.

The bout against Martin will be Davis' first in 14 months and his first since pleading guilty to a hit-and-run charge following a 2020 crash in Baltimore and serving time first on home detention and then in prison.

Davis was accused of driving a new Lamborghini, crashing into a car with four people in it, and leaving the scene. In February 2023, he pleaded guilty to four counts of leaving the scene of an accident with bodily injury, failing to notify owners of property damage, driving with a suspended license, and running a red light.

In May 2023, Baltimore Circuit Judge Althea Handy sentenced Davis to 90 days of home detention at trainer Calvin Ford's Baltimore apartment, saying the athlete had shown no signs of remorse. “He believes he is above the law,” Handy said.

The following month, sheriff's deputies took Davis into custody after he moved twice without a judge's permission, first to a room at the Four Seasons Hotel and then to a luxury condo he had purchased in Locust Point. Davis' lawyers argued that the moves were due to safety concerns, but Handy was not convinced and ordered him to serve the remainder of his sentence in prison.

Davis complained about Handy on Instagram Live from the prison, noting that his children cannot visit him and calling the judge “crazy.”

The hit-and-run incident was just one chapter in a tumultuous period that coincided with Davis' rise to become one of boxing's top stars.

He was charged with simple domestic violence assault in connection to a February 2020 incident in Coral Gables, Florida, in which he allegedly “pulled his arm back and then forward toward the victim,” consistent with a punch to the face. He was released in 2022.

Two days after Christmas in 2022, Davis was arrested in Florida for allegedly hitting a woman with a “closed fist-like slap.” Prosecutors dropped the domestic violence charge in May 2023 because the alleged victim did not want to move forward with the case.

Amid a swirl of legal troubles, Davis and Garcia, the most high-profile opponent of his career, fought in Las Vegas on April 22 and drew 1.2 million pay-per-view viewers and $22.8 million in live ticket sales.

Only a handful of active boxers have ever drawn such a large crowd, and Davis improved to 29-0 after defeating Garcia with some sharp body punches in the seventh round.

He had reached new heights as a professional, only to have his career halted less than two months later when he was sent to prison.

“I felt like I didn't belong there,” he said recently during a Premier Boxing Champions documentary building up to the Martin fight. “It was a learning experience. I knew I didn't want to be there.”

Now that Davis (29-0, 27 knockouts) is back, PBC is counting on him to be one of the main stars in its new pay-per-view deal with Amazon Prime, which will broadcast Saturday's bout. Davis previously headlined pay-per-view programming for the now-defunct Showtime Championship Boxing.

Martin (18-0, 12 knockouts) isn't likely to draw as many fans as Garcia, but he could present an intriguing puzzle in the ring. He's left-handed, about three inches taller than Davis, stronger and a better counterpuncher. Though he lacks the champion's explosive power or big-fight experience, Martin may not be an easy target for Davis, who prefers to probe his opponent before attacking in the middle rounds.