ATLANTA—Even in the midst of so much going on around him, Leonard Ellerbe had to force himself to catch his breath and appreciate what had been built in a market starving for a big boxing event.
Five months after packing the house in his true hometown, Gervonta Davis put an ear-to-ear grin on the face of the Mayweather Promotions CEO, along with plenty butts in the seats in his second home city of Atlanta. The unbeaten 25-year old southpaw was his own worst critic in his latest win, a 12th round stoppage of former featherweight titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa (30-3, 18KOs) in their vacant secondary lightweight title fight Saturday evening at State Farm Arena.
Davis (23-0, 22KOs) offered a letter grade of a C+ for his performance, though the raucous cheers from the announced crowd of 14,129 told a different story, at least to the muscle behind his career.
“I’ve been saying from his first world championship fight, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis is one of the biggest draws in the sport,” Ellerbe insisted to BoxingScene.com. “We saw it when he beat (Jose Pedraza) for his first world title, the crowd was all the way behind him even in the co-feature (to Badou Jack’s 12-round draw with James Degale). We saw it when we went to England to defend the title (in a May 2017 knockout win over Liam Walsh).
“Now, we seen it this year. Three fights in three separate parts of the country, three sellouts in three different markets.”
While his events truly haven't sold out the venues to which Davis has played, there's no denying his drawing power especially in his first full year as a headlining act.
Following just one fight in a disappointing 2018 campaign, Davis rose from supporting capacity to headline three shows in 2019. The year began with his one-round wipeout of Hugo Ruiz, a late replacement for a medically-scratched former three-division titlist Abner Mares. The bout marked his first Showtime-televised main event in the U.S., selling 6,581 tickets amongst an announced crowd of 8,048 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, literally thousands of miles from his Baltimore hometown.
From there came a long overdue homecoming, with an announced attendance of 14,686 at Baltimore’s Royal Farms Arena for his 2nd round stoppage of Ricardo Nuñez in his final title fight at 130 pounds. Davis followed up the feat by adding a second divisional title to his collection, with an estimated 30,000 tickets sold for the trio of events.
Along with the question of whom he faces for his first fight in 2020, comes the curiosity of where such a bout will take place. If the past year is any indication, his handlers will argue that it’s not unreasonable to suggest it will be a success no matter the location.
“I don’t know where his next fight is going to be, but I guarantee you it’s going to be a sellout wherever it’s takes place,” promises Ellerbe. “He’s one of the biggest draws in the sport today.”
“He’s at that young age of 25, he’s just getting this thing rolling. The fans have embraced him and the best is yet to come.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox