There is a reason why Gervonta Davis is simply known as “Tank.” Although he is 5’ 5,” “Tank” Davis operates as if he is truly a heavily armored fighting vehicle carrying powerful guns that moves continually forward.
On Saturday, in front of a record-breaking audience for a boxing event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, “Tank” Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) lived-up to his reputation following a spectacular one-punch knockout of previously unbeaten Rolando Romero (14-1, 12 KOs).
Romero was applying pressure against Davis, who was trapped against the ropes, before Rollie walked into a tremendous left-hand that floored Romero into a corner. Romero returned to his feet, but the referee decided not to allow Romero to continue, as “Tank” Davis was going to annihilate him had he continued.
At the time of the stoppage, which occurred at 2:39 seconds of round six, “Tank” Davis was ahead on two of the three official judges’ scorecards: 49-46, 48-47, but behind 47-48.
According to punch stats, “Tank” Davis landed more total punches (25-22), jabs (5-3), and power-punches (20-19) than Romero, who threw more (115-84). But it was that one knockout blow that people all over the world will remember for quite some time.
“The crazy thing is that I didn’t even throw it that hard,” “Tank” Davis said. “He just ran into it. He just ran into it. Something like when Pacquiao got caught. I didn’t even throw it that hard and he’s the one who ran into it, when he was talking that it was going to be me.”
“Tank” Davis was referring to the time Manny Pacquiao fought Juan Manuel Marquez for the fourth time back in December 2012. Pacquiao and Marquez engaged in what would be the 42nd and final-round of their epic series when Pacquiao, moving forward, ran straight-into the knockout blow and landed flat on his face. It was a horrific scene and the biggest victory of Marquez’ ‘Hall of Fame’ career.’
“I knew that I could get into his head, just from when we weighed in,” “Tank” Davis added. “I knew his goal was to move in front of me (on stage during the weigh in) so when he went in front of me he didn’t realize that the stand was coming to an end so I just tapped him and he fell.”
It was “Tank” Davis’ third defense of his current stint as WBA lightweight champion; his 11th career world championship fight.
In addition, last night was “Tank” Davis’ third career appearance at the Barclays Center. “Tank” Davis won his first professional title – the IBF super-featherweight championship – when he dispatched Jose Pedraza in January 2017. “Tank” previously beat Jesus Cuellar for a vacant WBA super-featherweight title at the Barclay Center in 2018.
What else can be said of “Tank” Davis? The 27-year-old from Baltimore, MD? “Tank” Davis has continuously annihilated everyone that has stepped to him: Pedraza, Cuellar, Issac Cruz, Mario Barrios, Leo Santa Cruz, Liam Walsh, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and others.
However, still, there are much bigger challenges out there for “Tank” Davis. There’s unified lightweight champion George Kambosos, Jr. and Devin Haney, who will clash for the undisputed championship in Australia next week.
Vasyl Lomachenko, one of the best fighters in boxing, is highly regarded and more than capable.
There’s also Ryan Garcia, the undefeated interim WBC lightweight champion, who has fought absolutely no one other than Luke Campbell, a former Olympic gold medalist. Campbell nearly KO’d Garcia early in that fight. Credit to Garcia for rising from the canvas to win by KO.
“Tank” Davis is doing tremendous numbers selling live gates and generating increasing buys on Pay-Per-View. “Tank” Davis previous four fights have been distributed on SHOWTIME Pay-Per-View; generating on average 200,000+ buys and nearly $4 million in live gate revenue prior to his fight with Romero. As “Tank” Davis’ numbers rise, so will the level of his opposition at some point.
SHOWTIME Press Release: In the co-main event, Cuban star Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (29-3-3, 17 KOs)dominated Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan (31-5, 21 KOs) to retain his WBA Middleweight Title via an eighth-round TKO.
A two-division champion who landed 54% of his power punches in the bout, Lara waited patiently for his opening against the aggressive O’Sullivan, and broke through for the first time late in round four. He sent O’Sullivan down in the closing moments of the round with a blistering counter left hand that hurt him before dropping him with a straight right hand.
“This new style that I’m demonstrating is for all the boxers to show them how I can fight now, just being able to change up,” said Lara. “He was a tough boxer, too. I’m a smart boxer, a slick boxer, that’s what I did tonight. I waited until he attacked and then I did what I had to do to win the fight.”
O’Sullivan was again saved by the bell in round five, as Lara hurt him as the round waned with a right hook-straight left combination. Showing the precision that has made him renowned as one of the sport’s most skilled fighters for years, Lara struck again at the end of round seven, wobbling O’Sullivan severely moments before the bell rang.
After receiving attention from the ringside physician before round eight, O’Sullivan ran into another straight left hand from Lara early in the round, prompting referee Benjy Esteves to waive off the bout 23 seconds into the frame.
“I saw the opening, he was leaving himself open and that’s when the left came in and knocked him down,” said Lara. “I saw in the eighth round he didn’t have any more power and that’s when I stepped up and showed my power.”
The telecast also saw rising star Jesus “Mono” Ramos (19-0, 15 KOs) earn a unanimous decision over rugged battler Luke Santamaria (13-3-1, 7 KOs) by scores of 98-92 and 97-93 twice in their 10-round super welterweight attraction.
The 21-year-old Ramos was able to impose his size advantage from the outset, pushing Santamaria backwards and forcing him to fight off the ropes for much of the fight. With the victory, Ramos was able to avenge the loss of his uncle Abel Ramos, who lost a decision to Santamaria in February.
“Yes of course it was important to avenge my uncle’s loss,” said Ramos. “It wasn’t the way we wanted to win, but I think it takes two to tango and tonight I was the one who wanted to fight. I’m not really satisfied. I could have done a lot better but like I said, it takes two to tango and tonight Santamaria didn’t want to fight.”
“I thought it was closer than that, I thought we got the win,” said Santamaria. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way. I moved up in weight. I thought he was going to be stronger than that. I thought we did enough to win the fight.”
Fighting at the 154-pound limit for the first time since his second pro fight, Santamaria came into this bout off of back-to-back upset victories over Abel Ramos and Devon Alexander, and had strong moments in the fight countering his imposing opponent. Although Santamaria had an advantage in punches thrown (660-625), it was Ramos who held the lead in punches landed (158-142) and accuracy (25% to 22%).
“I could have pressed a little more, gone to the body a little more, but he was kind of slippery in there,” said Ramos. “I didn’t want to risk anything because he would counter so I was trying to stay composed and stay at my distance.”
“The plan was to box him and to get him tired and it was working,” said Santamaria. “I thought it worked. He never hurt me, never felt his power. I was good. I thought he was going to be tough. I’m just as tough as they come.”
Ramos clinched the victory with a strong performance in the closing rounds, eventually earning the decision as he looks to continue improving and rising up the rankings as a top young contender.
“I want whoever they want to put in front of me,” said Ramos. “We’re going to keep going forward and take whatever fight my team thinks is best for me. He won some rounds because I let him work a little too much, but we’re going to keep getting better and grow from this.”
In the pay-per-view opener, super featherweight contender Eduardo “Zurdito” Ramirez (27-2-3, 12 KOs) edged out a majority decision victory over Puerto Rico’s Luis Melendez (17-2, 13 KOs) in their 10-round showdown.
“The first few rounds were even, but after that he only had his jab,” said Ramirez. “I was able to hurt him. He tried to win going backwards and that’s no way to win.”
“I felt I won the fight,” said Melendez. “It’s part of the game. You just have to go back and keep training and just come back better.”
The contest was fought evenly throughout, with both fighters building momentum at certain moments, only to have their opponent fire back to keep the action squared. The punch stats reflected the close nature of the fight, with Melendez holding a 193 to 171 edge in punches landed, while Ramirez bested him in accuracy by a 31% to 29% margin.
Ramirez had his best moments of the fight pushing Melendez back on the ropes, buoyed by a significant advantage in body shots landed (79-16). Melendez was able to avoid taking too much damage with constant activity and sharp counter uppercuts that temporarily halted Ramirez’s forward momentum.
In round eight, Melendez resorted to dropping his hands while on the ropes, in the hopes of catching a hard-charging Ramirez. However, Ramirez would go on to have his biggest advantage in punches landed in that frame (28-19). After a hard-fought round 10 that all three judges scored for Ramirez, he took home the victory with scores of 95-95, 98-92 and 96-94.
“I just have to go back to the drawing board and get better,” said Melendez. “I’m still young. I felt I landed the crisper punches and out-boxed him. He never hurt me. Never.”
“I want to fight for the world title next,” said Ramirez. “I’m ready for any of the top fighters. I don’t shy away from tough challenges.”
Prior to the pay-per-view telecast, bouts streaming on the SHOWTIME Sports YouTube page was headlined by super welterweight contender Luis “Cuba” Arias (20-3-1, 9 KOs) earning a hard-fought unanimous decision over Jimmy Williams (18-8-2, 6 KOs) by the score of 99-91 on each judges’ card. Additional streaming action saw rising prospect Jalil Hackett (4-0, 3 KOs) deliver a second round TKO over previously unbeaten Jose Belloso (4-1, 4 KOs) 2:20 seconds into the round.
Airing live on SHOWTIME PPV®, the event was promoted by Mayweather Promotions, GTD Promotions and TGB Promotions.
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