Teofimo Lopez recommends that Frank Martin take the fight to WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, attack him to the body, and not show fear in their fight this Saturday night on PBC on Premier Prime PPV in Las Vegas.
WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo doesn’t see a positive outcome for Martin (18-0, 12 KOs) if he plays it safe against Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) like many fighters do when they face him.
Teofimo doesn’t want Martin to be careless against Tank because his friend Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero did that and paid the price, getting knocked out in the sixth round.
It’s interesting that Teofimo is advising Martin on how to beat Tank because he’s arguably lost three out of his last five fights and is taking a soft touch on June 29th. However, many trainers were mediocre fighters, and Teo could be one of those types.
The Importance of Aggression
“Martin has got to go into it with the essence of like, ‘This is the biggest fight and biggest opportunity of my life,’ and sometimes, you only get it one time in your life, and you just go to know this was meant for you and not to break you,” said Teofimo Lopez to Sean Zittel, giving Frank Martin advice for his fight against WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis for this Saturday, June 15th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Martin has got to attack Tank Davis like he did his last opponent Artem Harutyunyan, because he was well behind in that fight early on, and he didn’t look good until he went all out in the second half.
Targeting Davis’ Vulnerability
“So, if you have all the tools in the game to put holes in Tank’s style, then show it on Saturday night,” said Teofimo about Martin. “Enough with the talking. Now, it’s time to back it up with those hands, and it’s time to back it up with your style. Tank knows that Martin doesn’t like body shots, but Tank doesn’t like body shots either.”
It’s risky to attack Tank Davis with body shots because that will leave Martin open to getting nailed by one of his powerful counters. If Martin is going to attack Tank to the body, he needs to do it with stabbing shots.
“So, this is a great competitive fight. Tank knows what it takes to face fighters like Martin,” said Teofimo. “If I can give Martin one true piece of advice, it’s to stay focused the whole twelve rounds. Don’t slack up. Look what happened to Rolly.”
Romero fought like a wild man who had lost his senses entirely when he fought Tank, and it was only a matter of time before he knocked him out. Rolly only got the fight because he was with Mayweather Promotions, the same promoter that Tank was with.
“Rolando Romero was doing well for the first five rounds, and he got careless and look what happened,” said Teofimo. “Anytime you get careless with Tank, he’s going to make you pay. He’s just waiting for that one moment. I think this magnitude of the fight for Martin is going to surprise him because it’s different when you’ve got tens of thousands of people watching you live, and many are watching at home.”
As long as Martin doesn’t fight like he’s dumb the way Rolly did, being aggressive may work for him. It did with Isaac Cruz, but he had a great chin, and he was hard for Tank Davis to hit cleanly.
“That energy. You got to absorb it. Don’t be afraid of it,” said Teofimo. “This is your moment. I don’t understand fighters nowadays. They want the big fights and the big opportunities, but once they get there, they choke. They’re like, ‘Whoa, this is bigger than I thought it would be.’”
Teofimo sounds like he’s been reading his Bruce Lee books a little too much and preaching stuff that doesn’t work in real life, but it was good for Bruce because he was a movie star, not a fighter.
“No, embrace it. This is your moment to shine. This is your moment to shock the world,” said Teofimo.
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