Gervonta Davis Will Face Frank Martin on June 22
Gervonta Davis has revealed he will defend his WBA Lightweight Title against Frank Martin on June 22, live from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
The fight had been mentioned for some time, but now Davis has confirmed it to his fanbase. Tank has not been in the ring since knocking out Ryan Garcia last year with a body shot. After some months, he was arrested for violating the terms of his house arrest over a hit-and-run incident. That meant he had to serve the remainder of his sentence behind bars. Showtime’s exit from boxing also slowed down his next fight as PBC sought a new network. Now, PBC has signed a multi-year deal with Amazon Prime Video, allowing Davis to make his return.
Martin has not boxed since winning a close unanimous decision against Artem Harutyunyan last year. The undefeated southpaw was struggling to work out his opponent. However, Martin increased the pressure in the final round, forcing Harutyunyan to take a knee. That was enough to take a win on the scorecards.
Davis vs. Martin
The decision to choose Martin has increased suggestions that Davis will fight either Shakur Stevenson or Devin Haney next. Martin is similar to those fighters in that he is an undefeated, slick boxer. He is defensively sound and will test Tank’s patience. The two fighters have sparred before, and there are conflicting narratives about what happened. Martin alleges he hurt Davis, while Tank suggests otherwise. Rising boxing star Curmel Moton has backed Davis to come out on top.
“Uh, I think it’s going to be a great match uh I feel like Frank will probably get the first few rounds; we know Tank give away rounds a lot. I feel like he’ll probably catch him, uh, he used to experience, and catch him later on in the fight and take get the dub,” Moton stated
If Davis comes through, it will increase the calls on him to unify against Shakur Stevenson. Shakur is the current WBC Lightweight Champion after beating Edwin De Los Santos. The performance was not impressive, as he was booed during the fight. But since Shakur has one fight left on his Top Rank deal, there is a chance he could sign with PBC to get the Tank fight. Paulie Malignaggi backed Shakur to come out on top if that fight went ahead.
Davis vs. Shakur
“This guy is the best pure boxer in the sport, no one can touch him, no one can beat him, including elite level guys. Shakur Stevenson would beat Gervonta Davis and he’d make it look pretty easy. I’ll tell you what, Gervonta’s power is always a wild card, but Shakur Stevenson is way too good.
“Shakur is the most effective fighter in the sport. It wasn’t exciting against De Los Santos, he still dominated a dangerous guy, a guy who’s a dangerous puncher, it doesn’t matter how exciting you think he was. We’re talking about who wins. Whether it’s exciting, whether it’s boring, Shakur will beat you and that’s the bottom line. If he’s looked at the right way, he will be the No. 1 fighter pound-for-pound in the world one day,” Malignaggi stated
Comments
Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.
