Gervonta Davis knocks out Frank Martin to retain WBA lightweight championship – live reaction | Boxing

“I felt like I was in control at first, then I got too comfortable,” says Martin. “They caught me slacking on the ropes trying to find that bigger shot. It wouldn’t perform so I stopped making my move. After I stopped making my move he was able to land more punches. After I stopped doing my job, he got a lot more shots at me.

Martin is asked if the sense of success made him let down his guard.

“I wouldn’t say I feel my success,” he says. “I was just trying to figure out what I could do to slow down the pressure. I didn’t try to move too much, too much, because I felt like that’s what they wanted me to do, to tire my legs out. So I was trying to slow it down a little bit and kind of pace it instead of moving so much. But he came in, hit a big shot and it was a shot I didn’t see.”

Davis is asked when he will fight again. And whether he’ll face Vasyl Lomachenko, Shakur Stevenson or Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz. Good questions!

“Most importantly, I just want to go back to the drawing board, get back in the gym and just stay focused,” he says. “I felt it was a little rusty, but all those guys are on my radar.”

Well, it’s not a no.

“I was a little rusty, but I’m fine. I’m back,” Davis says of the 421-day hiatus. “I feel like I didn’t fully warm up like I wanted to. Well, I warmed up but got cold as the battle was before me, but it’s all right. No Excuses.”

Asked if Martin’s footwork bothered him early on as the challenger built up a lead on the scorecards, Davis says it was all part of his fight plan.

“His footwork didn’t bother me,” he says. “I knew he was going to get tired, so that’s what I was doing. I would just stand there, be a target for him so he could get tired, and once he got tired, I would just start picking him apart.

He continues: “I’ve been here a long time. I’ve been training since I was seven, competing since I was eight. So it’s like second nature. It’s just a matter of staying focused, making sure my mind is on the goal, which is to always come out on top.”

Compubox punch statistics give digital context to one-way traffic. Davis made 79 of 178 shots (44.4%) compared to 81 of 270 for Martin (30.0%). But Tank was even better on power shots, going 54-of-101 (53.5%) and 23-of-33 in the seventh and eighth rounds (70.0%).

Jervonta Davis wins by knockout in the eighth round!

Round 7

Davis lands a few shots and Martin backs away but doesn’t appear to be hurt. Those blows may have passed by now. The champion keeps Martin against the ropes and lands quick combinations. Martin avoids most of them, but the tension builds. And Martin lands a counter left hook against the run of play! It was a nice shot at the end of the frame, but it doesn’t negate all of Davis’ good work in the session. For Davis, this was clearly his best round of the fight.

Unofficial Guardian score: Davis 10-9 Martin (Davis 66-67 Martin)

Round 6

Davis catches Martin in the corner and drops his hands, but Martin blocks or parries most of them. Davis is stepping up his attack, but Martin is sticking to the game plan that has worked for him so far. Martin’s slick defense really limited Davies’ ability to counter. It was another very close round, but we’ll shade it to Davis on the turnout.

Unofficial Guardian score: Davis 10-9 Martin (Davis 56-58 Martin)

Round 5

Davies begins to drop Martin’s time. He lands a flush right hook to Martin’s nose, his best shot of the fight. The challenger moves almost exclusively on the back foot, throwing (and landing) kicks off the back foot, scoring effectively even when the looming threat appears to favor Davis. Davis lashed out with a right hook that landed, but Martin’s backward movement absorbed much of the power. Another close round for Martin.

Unofficial Guardian score: Davis 9-10 Martin (Davis 46-49 Martin)

Round 4

Davis, still bringing Martin down, catches his foe with a stomping shot on the ropes, but it doesn’t seem to hurt the challenger. More of the same for the first half of the fourth round until Davis began to open up. He lands an uppercut to Martin’s body and misses with some power shots. Davis really starts to relax his arms and the crowd swells in anticipation.

Unofficial Guardian score: Davis 10-9 Martin (Davis 37-39 Martin)

Round 3

Another strong round for Martin, who has been doing everything right so far. He parries and outstrips the champion, nullifies his foe’s attack with the work, ties up when he needs to, and uses footwork to make himself an elusive target. The question is whether he can last nine more rounds. Only two of Gervonta Davis’ 29 fights to date have made it to the cards.

Unofficial Guardian score: Davis 9-10 Martin (Davis 27-30 Martin)

Round 2

Martin throws and lands more punches early on, but we’ve seen that before with Davis, who is like a tightly coiled spring waiting for his moment to strike. Some very nimble footwork by the challenger to get out of harm’s way before Davies can pin him. Davis lands a counter left to the body. Then another one. Martin continues to look to land the shot to keep Davis at bay. The champion unloads with a flurry of punches, but Martin wraps him up before he can do any damage. Another round for Martin, but he’s done nothing so far to earn Davis’ respect.

Unofficial Guardian Score: Davis 9-10 Martin (Davis 18-20 Martin)

Round 1

Here’s the bell! And Davis looks tiny there. The champ is known for his slow starts, but he’s already going against Martin behind Philly’s defense. Martin lands several shots to the ribs of Davis. Martin stands up in the corner but lands a back leg kick. Davis didn’t throw much, but he was timing his opponent. Davis lands a hard left hand and Martin finishes. There wasn’t much to choose from in the feel round for either man, but Martin landed a few more punches.

Unofficial Guardian Score: Davies 9-10 Martin (Davis 9-10 Martin)

Here we are. Final instructions were given by referee Harvey Dock, seconds ticked down and we’ll take it round by round coverage from here!

Ring announcer Jimmy Lennon came out of the tunnel. He announces each fighter and they enter the arena. First it’s Martin, then Davis, who makes the ring, accompanied by Baltimore rapper OTR Chaz.

Ryan Garcia took his seat at ringside for tonight’s main event. He wears shorts with writing on them #1 TANK FAN from before REVENGE ME BITCH! on the back. Considering their first battle generated more than 1 million pay-per-view buys and live entry worth more than $22 million, which can and likely will be settled.

“I think it’s a 7 out of 10, to be honest,” Benavidez says when asked to rate his performance. “Alexander is a great fighter, you know? No wonder he is a former champion and Olympic medalist. I felt like I had a great fight [against a] strong fighter and we aim to move forward.”

Asked why he looked like a different fighter tonight, Benavidez cited the weight gain.

“I was trying to get a feel for the light heavyweight division,” he says. “They hit a little harder here, so I had to feel it. I’m just happy I made it through tonight because I got a cut on my eye two weeks ago. I also had a torn tendon in my right arm. I didn’t think I was going to make it tonight, but we did it and I thank God we’re here to get this fight.”

David Benavidez defeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk by unanimous decision. The scores were 116-112, 117-111 and 119-109. A solid welterweight debut for the Phoenix native known as the Mexican Monster.

David Benavidez and Oleksandr Gvozdyk are in the seventh round of a scheduled 12-round fight. This is a complete shutdown for Benavidez on our card. Gvozdik, a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist who ended Adonis Stevenson’s long title reign at 175 pounds in 2018, is past his prime at 37 and being served by a younger, top-class opponent.

Shortly after this fight ends, Davis and Martin will enter the main event.

Tale of the tape

It has been 14 months since Davis last fought. One of the reasons for the firing included his guilty plea last year to charges stemming from a crash that hospitalized four people, including a pregnant woman. Davis was sentenced to 90 days of house arrest at his trainer’s home.

A judge ruled in June that Davis violated the terms of his house arrest after moving to a luxury hotel and then a new home, but he was released from a Baltimore jail in July after 44 days in a detention center.

Now the 29-year-old southpaw, one of America’s most amazing athletes and an unrepentant abuser of women whose history of gender-based violence is well documented, ready to get his career back on track.

“I’ve been locked inside for quite some time,” Davis said. “My return will be a great performance on Saturday night.”

Alberto Puelo just upset Gary Antoine Russell via split decision. One judge scored it 118-109 for Russell, while the other two handed out cards of 115-112 and 114-113 for Puello, who handed Russell his first loss in 18 professional fights.

Preamble

Brian will be here soon. In the meantime, here’s a look at Friday’s eventful weigh-in.