In addition to being the face of boxing, Gervonta “Tank” Davis is perhaps the greatest boxer in the world. When Davis successfully defended his WBA Lightweight World Title at 1:29 of the eighth round of the PBC Pay-Per-View main event on Prime Video on Saturday night—the 100th championship fight night at the famed MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas—he stopped the unbeaten Frank “The Ghost” Martin with a vicious left hand. Davis’s performance went viral once again.
Martin put in a strong effort in his fight for the world championship. But Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) proved once more that he is truly unique.
“Thank you for attending; this was a fantastic occasion. I’m grateful to everyone who helped make this happen. We repeated the action. Moving on to the next! Said Davis.
13,249 people in a full house witnessed a brilliant performance by Davis. Martin (18-1, 12 KOs) won the first few rounds with lightning-fast punches and remarkable agility. In the third round, Davis made his first move and had Martin pinned to the ropes. Davis took his time.
“Frank Martin was an excellent combatant. “He performed well in four or five rounds,” Davis remarked. “I was getting to know my range. I simply had to take him out as the battle continued since (Martin) was moving a lot and had a good jab.
The world champion in three divisions, who was unbeaten, exerted consistent and strategic pressure, gradually dismantling Martin and preparing him for the thrilling finale in the eighth round. Davis stunned Martin, who was cornered, with a strong left uppercut and a left cross that put Martin down on his back. The referee, Harvey Dock, sensibly waived the fight off as Martin struggled to stand.
“I knew the whole plan was for him to tire himself out, and I knew he wasn’t going to get back up because of the way he fell,” Davis remarked.
“I’m erecting my head,” Martin said. In the end, I proved to be excellent, yet I fell short. One of those bullets that comes from beneath caught me off guard, and that’s where it went from there. Even though I don’t think I made the count, I still want to thank everyone who attended and participated in this event.
“I’ll be back.” I’m going to see the movie, improve, and develop. I’ll see you all again.
Davis has plans that are comparable. “Let’s start over from scratch now, and I want to fight them all.”
Unbeaten two-time world champion David “El Monstro” Benavidez, who was co-main event headlining, outperformed Oleksandr “The Nail” Gvozdyk in his 175-pound debut, decisively outboxing and outslugging him to win a 12-round unanimous decision (116-112, 117-111, 119-109) and the interim WBC Light Heavyweight World Title.
“I increased my weight, triumphed in every round, and outclassed both an Olympian and a former world champion,” Benavidez stated.
“I caused him pain on a few occasions. I was having trouble throwing many combinations since I hurt my hand again in the third round. Four weeks before to the battle, I had torn my right ligament, and during training, I had injured my left hand. I’m pleased of myself since, three weeks ago, I too had a cut, but I overcame it and gave the crowd a strong fight.”
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) showed off every ability in the book, entering with a stinging jab and employing precise combinations to land strikes on the head and body. In his first world championship fight since 2019, Gvozdyk made a big impression. The product of Kharkiv, Ukraine, delivered a barrage of blows, frequently sliding a right hand in behind a deft left.
“Obviously, I wish tonight’s decision had been made differently. “I would have preferred to have contributed a bit more and engaged in the fight from the beginning,” Gvozdyk remarked.
“The scores, in my opinion, were quite realistic. It was a close but excellent fight. Although I believe I started to perform better in the second part of the battle, he was superior in the first. I would like to face him again.”
Despite hurting Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs) many times in the second half of the bout, Benavidez was unable to finish off his formidable opponent despite putting up a strong showing.
“I’m excited about the division’s future,” Benavidez remarked.
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