Gervonta “Tank” Davis says he intimidated challenger Frank Martin during the face-off at their press conference ahead of their fight on June 15th. He states that he intimidated Martin (18-0, 12 KOs) and his brother.
It’s questionable whether Gervonta, 29, actually believes he actually scared Martin because it’s not going to change anything. Martin wants to win because he can change his life if he upsets Tank, as there would be a rematch, which would bring in big numbers at the gate and PPV.
Tank vs. Martin will be shown live on PBC on Prime Video PPV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In the co-feature, David Benavidez will step up to light heavyweight to fight Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the WBC interim 175-lb title.
Psychological Warfare at the Press Conference
“I got in his head a little bit. Yeah, he was a little intimidated, even his brother. The people that were with him looked intimidated,” said Gervonta Davis to PPV_Com about how he believes he scared Frank Martin during their face-off at the press conference for their fight on June 15th.
It’s going to take more than intimidation for Tank Davis to beat Frank Martin in this fight. He’s not going to be afraid to throw punches the way his last opponent, Ryan Garcia, was after he got clipped early in their fight in April 2023 because Martin is a warrior.
“We got to see on June 15th if he’s really intimidated. I sparred him before at the Mayweather gym. Nothing really personal. It was just two young guys that was trying to make something out of nothing,” Gervonta continued.
Tank doesn’t say when the sparring took place between him and Martin, but it doesn’t matter. Martin is a different fighter now than when they sparred, and he will be coming to win. This is his big opportunity to take his career to the next level, and he knows he’s got an opponent who was hurt in his previous fight in front of him.
Setting Traps and Controlling the Fight
“They don’t know until they get in there and wind up doing it, and it happens. They get caught, and they’re like, ‘Damn, I made a mistake.’ They don’t know that I set a trap the whole time,” said Tank Davis.
What’s made things easier for Tank is he’s not been up against any boxers that could avoid the traps he’s set. Most of the fighters he’s faced were sluggers like Ryan Garcia, Rolly Romero, Isaac Cruz, and Hector Garcia. It’s easier to set traps when you’re facing limited sluggers rather than fighters with boxing skills.
If Tank had fought Shakur Stevenson or Vasily Lomachenko by now, we’d know if his ability to set traps would work against a fighter with an IQ.
“He has the craft. It depends if I want him to be the boxer. That’s what makes me great. What makes me so great is I can make a fighter do what I want to do inside the ring. When he starts doing it, that’s when I can pick him apart,” said Tank Davis about Martin.
“Put on a great performance every time I’m under the lights, and be myself for the most part. Most important is be great under the lights. Whenever I fight, whoever I fight, it’s just to make sure I can be explosive and much better than the next person,” said Tank.
We’ll see if Tank can entertain the fans on June 15th because Martin is going to be coming in there looking for a knockout. This is going to be a war between these two fighters, and there’s a good chance that one of them is going to get knocked out.
“Make sure I can sell tickets. People want to see knockouts, so that’s what I have to deliver,” said Tank Davis.
Hopefully, after this fight, Tank stepts it up against one of the good lightweights, like Lomachenko, Shakur, Abdullah Mason, Floyd Schofield or William Zepeda.
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