By Keith Idec, photo by Ryan Greene

This, according to Gervonta Davis’ handlers, is just the beginning.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his promotional company’s CEO, Leonard Ellerbe, don’t just view Davis as the flagship fighter for Mayweather Promotions. They consider the powerful southpaw from Baltimore boxing’s next big thing.

They think Davis’ defense of his IBF super featherweight championship against England’s Liam Walsh on Saturday in London will be the first of numerous title defenses for him. They also believe he is destined for huge pay-per-view fights, the kind that could earn Davis the eight-figure guarantees with which Mayweather became synonymous in recent years.

It's an ambitious agenda, but Mayweather and Ellerbe are certain Davis possesses that type of potential.

“Well, I think [the Walsh fight] just sets him up for bigger and better things down the road,” Ellerbe said during a recent conference call. “Obviously, the focus is Liam Walsh and next Saturday night. As long as ‘Tank’ stays focused and does what he does, the sky is gonna be the limit. He has a tremendous team, he’s working with the best promoter in all of boxing and again, we’re really, really excited about this young man’s career. In our eyes, he’s the most exciting fighter in all of boxing and soon he’s gonna be the biggest star in all of boxing.”

If the pressure that accompanies such statements has affected Davis, he hasn’t shown it. The 22-year-old Davis, the sport’s youngest American champion, speaks matter-of-factly about accomplishing huge things in this brutal business.

“It’s been pretty good,” Davis said of life since becoming a world champion January 14, when he stopped Puerto Rico’s Jose Pedraza (22-1, 12 KOs) in the seventh round in Brooklyn. “I’m actually staying level-headed, staying focused. Getting a world title is just a step closer to what I wanna be. Like I said before, I wanna be that pay-per-view star. I wanna be that star of boxing. Having a belt is cool, but I’m trying to do more in the sport. This is just one step for me.”

Davis (17-0, 16 KOs) said he would defer to Mayweather and Ellerbe on what’s next if he can overcome the 30-year-old Walsh (21-0, 14 KOs) in their 12-round fight for his 130-pound championship (Showtime; 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT). Ellerbe wouldn’t divulge those specific plans, or whether the foreseeable game plan includes unification fights in a division that features WBO champion Vasyl Lomachenko (8-1, 6 KOs), WBA champion Jezreel Corrales (21-1, 8 KOs, 1 NC) and WBC champion Miguel Berchelt (31-1, 28 KOs).

“The focus is Liam Walsh,” Ellerbe said, “and obviously, with being in this game for many, many years, when you tend to look ahead – obviously, from the business side, me and Floyd are working day-to-day with plans and things of that nature. We know which direction we’re going. Again, the focus is Liam Walsh and that’s all we’re thinking about. We’re not thinking about no unification and this guy and this other guy. Liam Walsh is all ‘Tank’ is thinking about and he’s gonna go in there and do his thing next Saturday night, and bring that strap back to Baltimore.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.