Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis will have to find extra gear to hold onto his WBA ‘regular’ lightweight title against Frank Martin this Saturday night in their main event clash on top of a loaded undercard at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Experience: Advantage Tank
Davis has been in with the better opposition, but that’s not saying much because most of the notable guys he’s faced were old and on the way out.
Tank’s former promoters at Mayweather Promotions weren’t willing to put him in with any of the killers at 140, 135, or 130 because they wanted him to stay as long as possible to keep bringing in the dough like an oil well.
The last thing they wanted to do was face a lot of top guys and wind up as a dry-duster within a short period. Martin likely wouldn’t be getting this fight if PBC were still with Showtime because there was less pressure for Tank to be put in with good opposition back then.
Tank’s Best Wins
– Ryan Garcia
– Hector Garcia
– Isaac Cruz
– Mario Barrios
All the rest of the guys on Tank’s 11-year resume aren’t worth mentioning because they were nothing special.
Now that PBC is with Amazon, Tank Davis must start facing better competition because the last thing Premier Boxing Champions needs is for them to lose this broadcaster.
Tank (29-0, 27 KOs) may regret not taking a tune-up fight before facing Martin (18-0, 12 KOs). This is not the type of opponent one faces when they’s been out of the ring for 14 months and is facing the toughest guy in their career.
This is Martin’s Super Bowl, and he will go after Tank. He wants to take what he’s got in their headliner on PBC on Prime Video PPV.
Frank Martin’s best wins:
– Artem Harutyunyan
– Michel Rivera
– Jackson Maríñez
The level of competition Martin has faced during his career isn’t high, but he’s looked good in the few fights he’s had against those guys.
Martin, 29, ain’t playing around. This guy is coming to take out Davis, send him down to his first loss, and go home with his secondary WBA 135-lb strap. Davis has the power and speed advantage, but he’s not shown much ambition with his career, and he lets his promoters match him against guys who are ‘safe’ for him.
When fighters allow their promoters to spoon-feed them soft opposition, they make a deal with the devil because they get beaten when they do get in with someone good. They get too accustomed to fighting lesser guys, and they can’t handle it when they’re forced to fight someone with a pulse.
Prediction
Martin will push Tank in the early rounds, landing a lot of hard shots that will get fans excited, but ultimately, Davis will land one of his big power shots to end matters.
“This is the toughest fight for both of these guys. Once you get to this level, every fight you have is supposed to be more competitive,” said Shawn Porter to Pro Boxing Fans, talking about Saturday’s clash between Gervonta Davis and Frank Martin on PBC on Prime Video PPV.
“I expect Frank to pull some things out of Tank and force him to do some things that we haven’t seen Tank have to do. I think this is going to be fast chess, and this is going to be one of the first times we’ve seen Tank have to play fast chess.
“We’ve seen him thinking, going through his motions, and figuring out things and making it happen with a big bang. I don’t think it happens this way on Saturday night. So, we’ll see.
“Be yourself. What I mean by that is be tough, be fast, be quick, be intuitive,” said Porter about what Frank Martin must do to be victorious on Saturday against Tank Davis. “Don’t second guess yourself. If he starts to second guess himself, that’s the number one thing he can’t do.
“Along with that, if he just does what he’s blessed and capable of doing, it’s going to be close all the way down,” said Porter about Davis vs. Martin.
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