Ellerbe on Gervonta Davis Becoming a Box Office Star

Gervonta "Tank" Davis became a world champion for the first time in January, 2017 when he stopped Jose Pedraza in 7 rounds at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.  He followed that performance up with a 3 round demolition of Liam Walsh in the United Kingdom.  Davis then punctuated his year with an 8th round stoppage of Francisco Fonseca on the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor undercard.

According to Mayweather Promotions' CEO Leonard Ellerbe, those performances helped create the buzz that surrounds Davis, who will attempt to become a two-division champion on December 28th against Yuriorkis Gamboa, that has made him one of the biggest ticket sellers in the sport.

"Just look at his fights. Go back to Barclays when he fought for the title he was the co-feature and there was well over 10,000 there then," Ellerbe stated in reference to the card headlined by the UK's James DeGale and Sweden's Badou Jack. "Then he came back and fought on AB's undercard and that was 14 and some change (in attendance) and then we went to the UK and sold out the Copper Box Arena."

Showtime has televised all of Davis' fights since he became a world champion and the fight against Gamboa for the vacant WBA world lightweight title will headline their final card of 2019. 

In his last fight, Davis had over 14,000 in attendance at this homecoming bout in Baltimore.  A similar crowd is expected for his next fight which takes place in Atlanta where Davis currently resides.

"The difference with Tank, that is why there is foolishness when people talk about Tank. I want to commend Showtime. They have given us a tremendous platform to market and showcase Tank. With the exposure he has gotten and the number of fights he has fought on their broadcasts the fans have gotten to know him and the casuals too. He has been on the biggest events, he was the co-feature on the Mayweather-McGregor fight. That is why Gervonta is doing the numbers that he has done. He has had a tremendous platform for quite some time," Ellerbe told BoxingScene.com.

As for the future, Ellerbe believes that Davis will soon be the top draw in the sport.  Plans are in the works for Davis to headline his first pay-per-view show in 2020 and the Mayweather Promotions' CEO believes the sky is the limit for the 25-year-old Davis.

"We are going to do major events worldwide.  He is going to be the biggest star in the sport and it is not too far. With all due respect, Canelo's numbers are declining. He is a tremendous fighter and future Hall of Famer but his numbers are declining. He is getting less and less exposure," said Ellerbe.

[Editor's Note: Showtime is owned by CBS, which also owns BoxingScene.com]

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