Junior lightweight world titlist Gervonta “Tank” Davis is ready to get back on track and put a rocky 2018 in which he had just one fight — albeit an impressive third-round knockout of Jesus Cuellar in April to win a 130-pound belt for the second time — behind him.
Davis, whose 2017 was marred by missing weight and being stripped of a title that August, bickered with Mayweather Promotions and had legal issues that kept him from fighting more often. But those problems have been ironed out, and the plan was to return on Saturday night against popular and well-known three-division world titleholder Abner Mares on Mares’ home turf in Southern California.
Mares had called Davis out and Davis answered the call. He even embraced fighting Mares in front of his home crowd.
Davis would have been the big favorite and equated his decision to fight Mares in SoCal to what his promoter, Floyd Mayweather Jr., did in 2005. That’s when Mayweather, in his first pay-per-view headliner, challenged the late junior welterweight world titlist Arturo Gatti in front of his crowd in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Mayweather laid a beating on Gatti, stopped him in the sixth round, won a world title in his third division and took a big step toward the superstardom he eventually achieved.
Mares, however, withdrew from the fight last week. First he cited an elbow injury suffered in a sparring session, but then he came clean a few days later and admitted that he suffered a detached retina in his right eye and underwent surgery to repair it.
It was awful news for Mares, whose career is in jeopardy. But it was also unfortunate news for Davis, whose first marquee fight went down the drain.
Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, said that tickets for Davis-Mares were selling so well that they were headed to a sellout at the Dignity Health Sports Park — the former StubHub Center — in Carson, California, and that they had made arrangements to bring in additional bleachers to accommodate an overflow crowd.
When Mares withdrew, he was quickly replaced by Hugo Ruiz, a former junior featherweight titlist with nowhere near Mares’ level of popularity. So though the extra bleachers were no longer needed, and the fight lost considerable buzz, Davis is still intent on putting on a big performance to kick off what he hopes will be a big year on Saturday (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET).
“I’m so excited to come back strong in 2019,” Davis said this week. “This is the year that could put me over the top and put me at the highest level. The opponent change didn’t really affect me. In the amateurs we fought four or five times a week so we always had different opponents. I had been sparring someone taller than me in training camp anyway. I think a fighter should be ready and able to adapt to anything that is in front of him in the ring. I’m ready and I hope Ruiz is, too.
“We planned on fighting Abner Mares, but he had an injury and we hope to still get him down the line if everything is OK with his health. Hugo Ruiz is a great opponent. He’s going to come to fight on Saturday night. He’s been telling the media he’s going to knock me out, so I hope we get an action-packed fight for the fans. I’m glad Ruiz is coming for the knockout. We owe it to the fans and I’m praying that he comes ready to give them a great show.”
Davis (20-0, 19 KOs), 24, has shown enormous talent since turning pro in 2013, but he has had lapses of maturity that have held him back. He hasn’t always taken training seriously. But he is a new father and is trying to put his difficult upbringing — he came from a broken home in one of Baltimore’s most notorious gang- and drug-infested neighborhoods — behind him.
“I come from a city with a lot of violence and things like that, but my mind was always focused on what I wanted to be in life,” Davis said. “I traveled (thanks to amateur boxing) when I was super young, so my mindset was never like a typical 8-year-old. I won my first nationals when I was 10 years old. I’ve seen the world and I’ve seen the bigger picture. At that time, coming up in the gym, there were guys that I was looking up to that were getting killed in the streets.
“There were days in the gym where we would get a call that guys we trained with had been killed. I knew that it’s either boxing or things wouldn’t turn out too good. I knew I had to stay in the gym and stay focused.”
Davis offered a good look at his superstar potential in 2017 when he took apart then-undefeated junior lightweight titlist Jose Pedraza in dominating fashion for a seventh-round knockout victory that netted him his first world title belt. Since then, Davis and his team have spoken openly about his potential to become a major breakthrough star, perhaps to follow in Mayweather’s footsteps.
Davis is still very young and it’s still possible if he can get back on track — and stay there. He sure is confident.
“I feel like I’m the fighter that can be the next big star,” Davis said. “I’m working towards it. I’m just a kid soaking it all in right now. Saturday night, I hope everyone is ready, because it’s going to be action.”
Ellerbe believes Davis will become the star he predicted he would become a few years ago.
“I’m always confident in ‘Tank.’ He’s one of the top fighters out there in the sport,” Ellerbe said. “He wants to have a phenomenal year and everything’s in place for him to do that. We think the world of Gervonta Davis. We think that he’s going to eventually be the biggest star in this sport and right now he’s the most exciting fighter in the entire sport.”
The plan is for Davis, a southpaw, to fight three times this year, including a summer homecoming fight in Baltimore. But first is the fight with Ruiz, who has nothing to lose and everything to gain.
“All I know is that he is fast, he has some speed,” Davis said of Ruiz. “It looked like he has some power and good timing. I actually think that this is not a walk in the park like people think. The fact that this is a late change doesn’t concern me because once I get in there I’ll be able to make adjustments. I’m ready.”
Ruiz (39-4, 33 KOs), 30, of Mexico, fought as a featherweight for the first time on Jan. 19 on the Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner undercard in Las Vegas. Ruiz was supposed to challenge interim featherweight titlist Jhack Tepora last month, but Tepora missed weight and was stripped of the belt. Ruiz easily outpointed late replacement Alberto Guevara, who had been on standby because of Tepora’s weight issues. So Ruiz was still in shape when he got the call to move up another division and replace Mares.
“I’m going to leave everything in the ring,” Ruiz said. “I have a lot of faith in my boxing skills. I trust and believe that there is going to be a new world champion on Saturday night. I’m in rhythm and in shape. I’ve been very active leading into and since my last fight. Davis is a tremendous champion, but he doesn’t intimidate me. I’ll be ready for him come Saturday night.
“I’m ready mentally and physically for the greatest opportunity that has been given to me. At 130 pounds I feel more power than ever and I will demonstrate that. This is a big challenge for me. This is the opportunity that I’ve been waiting for throughout my 12-year career. I don’t plan on wasting it.”
Ruiz’s confidence aside, this fight is all about Davis and setting the table for what is to come.
“I remember when Gervonta Davis first came to my gym. He worked hard and believed in himself,” Mayweather said. “Sometimes we did two-a-days. If we didn’t think the job was done right, we’d come back and correct it. We continue to strive every day to be the best we possibly can be. Gervonta works extremely hard, but he can’t take anything for granted in this fight.”