Gervonta Davis notches spectacular knockout of Frank Martin
Boxing fans wondered if Gervonta Davis, who had been out of the ring for 14 months, for reasons including spending 44 days in jail stemming from a 2020 hit-and-run accident in which he was driving a vehicle with a revoked license, would have ring rust when he took on opponent Frank Martin on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in a lightweight matchup.
Davis, typically a slow starter, found himself down three rounds to none in the beginning of the fight against Martin. Then, the Baltimore native, who handed Ryan Garcia his first defeat in April 2023, heated up. The 29-year-old Davis (30-0, 28 KOs), commonly known as Tank, won rounds four through seven on all three scorecards and then finished Martin (18-1, 12 KOs) in the eighth round with a left uppercut followed by a left cross to defend his WBA lightweight world championship in front of 13,249 at the 100th championship fight at held at the MGM Grand.
“Yeah, there’s a little rust, but it’s OK. I’m back,” Davis said. “A couple rounds, I feel as though I ain’t warm up completely how I wanted to. I did warm up, but I got cold as the fights (were) going on before me. But it’s OK. No excuses.”
The win kept Davis in the discussion for the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
“Frank Martin was a great fighter. He put up a good four to five rounds,” said Davis. “I was finding my range. (Martin) had a decent jab and was moving a lot and I just had to break him down as the fight went on.”
The knockout happened halfway through the eighth round.
“He came in and landed a big shot, and it was a shot I didn’t see,” Martin said. “Really, I just didn’t see the shot.”
Davis ran to his corner and began celebrating before the referee finished counting to 10.
“I knew he wasn’t getting back up because of the way he fell, and I knew he was going to tire himself out, that was the whole gameplan,” Davis said.
“I felt like in the beginning I was in control, then I got a little too comfortable,” Martin said. “I got comfortable chilling on the ropes, trying to find that bigger shot. It wasn’t presenting itself. I stopped doing my movements.”
In the co-main event, David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) won the interim WBC light heavyweight championship with a 119-109, 117-111, 116-112 unanimous victory over former world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
On June 29, Brooklyn’s Teofimo Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) will defend his WBO junior lightweight championship against Steve Claggett (38-7-2, 26 KOs) in Miami.
“I have always wanted to fight in South Florida, where I grew up and developed as a fighter,” Lopez said. “I never thought it would happen, but now, on June 29, I get the opportunity to do so not just as a world champion but as the lineal world champion of my division. This has been one of my goals since turning pro, and I’m motivated to showcase my talent there in front of my Honduran fans and the entire Latino community.”
On July 6 at the Prudential Center, Newark native and WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) will face German Artem Harutyunyan (12-1, 7 KOs) in a 12-round clash.
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