LAS VEGAS — Despite snapping a career-long layoff of 14 months, lightweight superstar Gervonta “Tank” Davis proved on Saturday that he, indeed, ain’t afraid of no “Ghost,” or any other fighter for that matter.
Davis (30-0, 28 KOs), whose team was dressed in “Ghostbusters” gear as he walked to the ring inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena to the movie theme song, took care of unbeaten top contender Frank “The Ghost” Martin with relative ease to defend his WBA title at 135 pounds.
In his first fight since knocking out Ryan Garcia in their blockbuster pay-per-view card last April (with a 44-day jail term in between for violating the terms of his house arrest), the 29-year-old Davis looked both menacing and spectacular in how he repeatedly walked down Martin (18-1, 12 KOs) before viciously stopping him at 1:29 of Round 8.
After a slow start, which he ascribed to being rusty, Davis began to routinely walk Davis from corner to corner and unleash power shots after taking away his opponent’s jab due to the threat of his power. Eventually, that same power caught up with Martin as Davis landed a left uppercut in the corner to stun him before nearly knocking him out cold with a left cross.
Martin, 29, was wobbly as he reached his feet at the count of 10, but referee Harvey Dock waved off the fight after looking into his eyes.
“I was rusty but it was OK because I’m back,” Davis said. “A couple of rounds, I felt like I completely needed a warmup but its OK. His footwork wasn’t bothering me. I knew he would tire out. That’s why we decided to just stand there and be a target for him so he could tire himself out [throwing punches].”
Davis, who targeted the body throughout, landed an absurd 53% of his power shots, according to CompuBox, in the PBC on Prime Video PPV main event. Martin landed slightly more punches overall (81 to 79) but it was the trademark efficiency of Davis that won out as he went on to land 44% of his total punches.
“It was the uppercut [that hurt him]. Boom!” Davis said. “I’ve been around for a long time and I have been training since I was 7 and competing since I was 8. It’s like second nature for me. It’s just about staying focused and making sure my mind is on the road to coming out on top.”
Although Martin was able to gain back respect at times by exploding out of the corner with clean left hands to keep Davis honest (while causing a bruise around his right eye), he was never able to follow up with anything menacing enough to keep Davis from unleashing relentless pressure over the final rounds.
“I feel like, in the beginning, I was in control but then I got a little too comfortable,” Martin said. “I stopped doing my movement and once I stopped moving, he was hitting me with big shots. When I stopped doing my thing, he started hitting me big. It was just me trying to figure out what I could do to try to slow down the pressure that was coming.”
After the fight, Davis wouldn’t commit to which fighter he was hoping to target next, despite the fact that rumors have swirled about his interest in title unification fights against fellow lightweight champions Vasiliy Lomachenko and Shakur Stevenson. Garcia, who was seated at ringside and wearing a t-shirt aimed at Davis that said, “Rematch Me Bitch,” on the back of it, climbed up to the apron and embraced Davis as the two shared a laugh although there was no mention inside the ring from Davis about a second fight.
One thing Davis did talk about was how much his recent jail sentence, which stems back to a 2020 hit-and-run accident, has caused him to mature. The native of Baltimore has had a history of legal troubles for assault and domestic violence.
“It made me a better person with patience and things like that,” Davis said. “Stuff in life you have to go through it and not try and go around it. It has made me a better person, a better father and a better athlete.”Most importantly, I want to just get back to the drawing board and just get back to the gym and stay focused. I felt a little rusty.”
The title bout headlined the 100th championship boxing event in the arena’s history, which dates back to 1993.
Elsewhere on the card, David Benavidez picked up his first win at light heavyweight with a decision over veteran and former titleholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Benavidez, to the surprise of many, was unable to score a knockdown against a fighter who previously retired and was out of action for four years. But now, Benavidez gets the chance to move on to potential title showdowns with either WBA champ Dmitry Bivol or unified king Artur Beterbiev. Plus, Alberto Puello scored the biggest upset of the night with a split decision win over Gary Antuanne Russell. And Carlos Adames picked up a decision win over Terrell Gausha to retain his WBC middleweight title.
CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday with the live results and highlights below.
Fight card, results
- Gervonta Davis (c) def. Frank Martin via eighth-round knockout
- David Benavidez vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk via unanimous decision (116-112, 117-111, 119-109)
- Alberto Puello def. Gary Antuanne Russell via split decision (109-118, 115-112, 114-113)
- Carlos Adames (c) def. Terrell Gausha via unanimous decision (119-109, 118-110, 118-110)
Davis vs. Martin scorecard, live coverage
| Davis (c) | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | KO | 68 | ||||
| Martin | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 65 |