Shane Mosley predicts a punishing fight for Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in his potential unification clash against IBF lightweight champion Vasily Lomachenko later this year.
The former three-division world champion Mosley says Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) will get hit a lot by Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs), and it won’t be as easy for him to land his big counter shots as it is against his past opposition.
Lomachenko’s Age a Potential Factor
Mosley feels that the 36-year-old Lomachenko’s age could make him vulnerable to getting caught by one of Tank’s big knockout blows, especially if Loma gets too confident from connecting with many of his punches early on.
“I can see that Lomachenko is going to land a lot of shots on him, but I can also see Davis catch him with a counter left or some power shots because Lomachenko could leave himself open for something unexpected,” said Shane Mosley to Fight Hub TV, analyzing a potential fight between Gervonta Davis and Vasily Lomachenko in November.
Frank Martin landed a lot of punches on Tank, marking his face up and causing swelling before getting knocked out with an uppercut in the eighth round on June 15th. Tank’s power bailed him out in that fight because it looked like he was approaching a loss.
If Tank, 29, can’t land one of his fight-saving knockouts, he could suffer his first defeat against Lomachenko. That would be a huge let down for Tank and his fans, who view him as unbeatable.
“[Lomachenko] landing a lot of shots could give him a lot of confidence, and that’s how Tank always knocks guys out when they come to him. It’s going to be a great fight. I would love to see Tank handle this,” said Mosley.
If Lomachenko connects with many punches on Tank, he will be wary of getting caught with one of his counters. It’s no secret that Tank is always looking to land that one big shot, which puts him at a disadvantage against a cautious fighter like Lomachenko.
“It’s going to be a difficult fight for Tank, and it could be a surprising fight for Lomachenko because he’s a little older. Maybe his timing is not the same, and Davis has the opportunity to catch him,” said Mosley.
Tank will need to land hard enough shots to either knock Lomachenko down repeatedly or stop him if he wants to get the win. It won’t be enough for him to land one or two hard punches per round and expect to win a decision because he’s not going to outbox Lomachenko.
“He had to take some time to trick him because Frank knew all the stuff that Tank does,” said Mosley. “So, he kind of waited for him and stuck him with the uppercut. Tank did a good job of cornering the mouse and get the right shot in.
“A lot of times when people go after Tank for the knockout, that’s when he catches them with the counter. It was probably harder to get the counter in the beginning against Frank because Frank knew not to press him too much,” said Mosley.
Martin played it safe until he started fading in the seventh round against Tank, and that’s when he began to get caught a lot. Lomachenko’s stamina is good enough for him not to wear down in the later rounds and get caught.
Shakur Stevenson: A Tough Matchup for Tank
“I think of all the lightweights, Shakur is probably one of the top ones because he’s a boxer. Even Devin Haney would be a hard fight for him [Tank Davis] because he should be moving around,” said Mosley.
Shake Stevenson won’t follow through with his punches against Tank and will focus on throwing stabbing shots to avoid getting countered. If Shakur fighters like that, Tank would need to chase him down to land his shots.
That’s what Cuban Robeisy Ramirez did to beat Shakur Stevenson in the 2016 Olympics. It wasn’t easy for Robeisy when he would chase Shakur down; he would be grabbed in a clinch.
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