Gervonta Davis is an exceptional all-around boxer, including speed and a skill set that rival anyone in boxing. That’s a significant part of what makes the lightweight contender one of the best in the business.
“Tank” has unbelievable boxing skills,” said his promoter, Floyd Mayweather, who knows a thing or two about the sweet science.
Let’s face it, though: The knockouts are what set him apart from the rest.
Davis has stopped 24 of his 25 opponents and the last 16 he has faced, making him arguably the pound-for-pound knockout king among active fighters. Boxing Junkie ranked him No. 2 behind heavyweight Deontay Wilder.
The only man to take him the distance? Someone named German Ivan Meraz, who lost to Davis by a six-round decision in 2014. What went wrong in that fight?
“I ate too much after the weigh-in,” he told Boxing Junkie at the final news conference before his fight with Isaac Cruz on Sunday in Los Angeles. “I drank a lot of soda, ate a bunch of stuff. That messed me up.
“Does it bother me that I couldn’t knock him out? Nah. I don’t think I’m going to knockout every opponent my whole career.”
Where does the power come from?
Davis said recently that his accuracy is one factor, meaning you get the most out of a punch when it lands precisely on the bull’s eye. However, he said on Thursday that he really doesn’t know why his shots do more damage than all but a few fighters.
He only knows that they do.
“When I catch them with a perfect shot, they either fall or they’re really tough. And they felt it for sure,” he said.
Davis’ most memorable stoppage came in October of last year, when he fought four-division titleholder Leo Santa Cruz. The fighters engaged in firefight for five-plus rounds but Davis, always thinking, was waiting for Santa Cruz to make a mistake.
Then it happened. In the sixth round, Santa Cruz fired three right hands. Davis stepped to the left of the third one, inched forward and uncorked a left uppercut that instantaneously rendered Santa Cruz unconscious and brought the crowd at the Alamodome in San Antonio to its feet.
If he wasn’t known as one of the great punchers of his era, he certainly was after that.
“It felt damn great,” he said of the stoppage. “I shook up the world. I get excited [when I have someone in my sights]. It’s like giving a kid candy. You can see all your hard work paying off as it’s happening.
“And I have the punching power to stop anyone I’m facing. It’s exciting.”
Davis was asked multiple times at the news conference whether fans can expect to see knockout No. 25 on Sunday and he wouldn’t bite.
To make such a prediction, he reasons, would be tantamount to taking Cruz (22-1-1, 15 KOs) lightly. And taking an opponent lightly is a recipe for disaster, as we’ve seen many times over the years.
Davis just smiles and serves up a diplomatic response. “You gotta wait and see,” he said.
At the same time, he did issue a warning to Cruz. The Mexican is a brawler, meaning he’s willing to take punches in order to deliver them. Isn’t that the perfect style for a fighter as powerful as Davis?
“If he walks into my punches,” said Davis, smiling one more time, “hopefully he can take what I dish out.”
Not likely.
