For WBA(regular) 135-pound champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis(23-0, 22 KOs), October 31 will be an opportunity to make a statement when he battles WBA 130-pound champion Leo Santa Cruz(37-1-1, 19 KOs) at the Alamodome in San Antonio and Showtime pay-per-view.
Both belts will be on the line in this fight, and October 31 will be Davis’ first time headlining a pay-per-view, so it will be an opportunity to prove that he can be a pay-per-view attraction.
Davis has drawn huge crowds in his past few fights. The 25-year-old Davis recently drew large crowds in Baltimore and Atlanta, which according to his promoter, Floyd Mayweather, means Davis is ready to be a pay-per-view star.
“When ‘Tank’ was very young, I told him that at some point he’d be on pay-per-view and now we’re here,” Mayweather said on Tuesday at a virtual press conference. “I’ve always been a fan of Leo’s as well. Both fighters deserve this, the fans deserve this, and I want to see these fighters at their best on fight night. Go out and give the fans what they want to see.
“I know ‘Tank’ is ready for pay-per-view because his fan base is really growing. The demographic that follows him is getting bigger. With Leo being popular on the West Coast and in Texas, he’ll bring a huge following as well. This fight can only be on pay-per-view, in my opinion.”
Fortunately for Davis, he will have Mayweather in his corner, who knows a lot about what it takes to be a pay-per-view star. Mayweather was apart of the top three highest-grossing pay-per-views in boxing history.
“Floyd’s been there coaching me through what comes with having my first pay-per-view main event fight,” Davis said. “There’s a lot of pressure on me, and you have to live up to fighting on pay-per-view so you can fight on pay-per-view again. When I’m down or anything like that, he’s able to push me, because he’s been there before. There are things that only Floyd can tell me about because he has that experience.”
Mayweather added: “In the gym, Calvin Ford(Davis’ trainer) and I work hand in hand. I’m just there to give pointers and help ‘Tank’ understand how pay-per-view works. If a fighter is in a gym working hard all day, sometimes he doesn’t want to do the things you have to do that are part of being on pay-per-view.”
The undefeated Davis has stopped 22 of his 23 opponents, but according to Mayweather, we have not seen the best out of the three-time world champion.
“You haven’t seen the best Gervonta Davis yet,’ Mayweather. “He had so many different looks in training. He had big guys, small guys, combination punchers, pressure fighters. He was boxing everything from middleweights to featherweights. All of this is going to play a big part in his career.”
Is the best yet to come for Davis, or will Santa Cruz spoil Tank’s pay-per-view party? We’ll find out on Halloween.
Photo: Sean Michael Ham/Mayweather Promotions
Leave a Reply