Frank Martin is heading into his fight against Gervonta Davis with a world of confidence despite going tooth and nail against Artem Harutyunyan last time out.
Martin needed a late-round rally and a 12th round knockdown to sneak away with a close win on the scorecards in July last year.
Martin (18-0, 12 KOs) can’t afford to play with fire against the WBA lightweight champion Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) on Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in a fight that will stream on Prime Video and PPV.com.
“People always judge you on your last performance, so I know that has a lot to do with him accepting the fight. I’m glad they took it. It was right up my alley,” Martin told BoxingScene.
“I had to overcome adversity. My body was not working with me. I just had to bite down, push, and dig. I had to get hit with a certain shot. When it’s crunch time, I can bite down and get it if I have to.”
According to DraftKings, Davis is listed as a -700 betting favorite, while Martin is a +450 underdog.
“I’m most definitely [embracing the underdog role]. It’s good,” said Martin. “It’s more motivation than me being the guy that is supposed to take it all. I like that people are sleeping on me and calling me a cherry-pick.
“Everybody is a beatable fighter, and they will see June 15 that he is beatable. He makes mistakes, but he’s been able to get away from other fighters. In his last few fights, he’s down on the scorecards and then lands a big shot to get them out of there… He might not come out and start slow against me. He might start fast.”
Although Davis has been a slow starter in some of his recent fights, the ending of the script is always the same – a knockout finish.
“Tank” fought twice in 2023, a ninth-round knockout against Hector Luis Garcia and a seventh-round knockout against Ryan Garcia.
“That rehydration clause took a lot out of Ryan,” said Martin. “He couldn’t do his thing like he probably would have been able to. Tank put on a good performance in that fight. Ryan kept throwing the same competitive combinations, and Tank is known for catching guys and knocking them out when they are doing the same thing.”
“The Ghost” insists he’s not spooked by the fellow southpaw Davis’ devastating power.
“If you know a guy is cracking, you just have to embrace it, and that’s what it is,” said Martin. “But you don’t want to go in there slug for slug, blow for blow. You have to embrace some shots are going to land, and you have to take them, bite down, and give it back … To be honest, there hasn’t been anybody that I’ve been in there with where I’m like, damn, they hit. They weren’t cracking. I never got hit too clean.”
Martin believes he will be the one who is ultimately delivering the debilitating damage.
He’s promising a knockout performance.
“You can expect a mind-blowing performance that will shock the world,” said Martin. “Tank is an explosive fighter. I have my explosiveness as well. It’s going to be fireworks.
“Beating Tank will open up the doors to everything – many doors. Doors that I never thought would be open. I’m just ready to get out there and open these doors.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
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