Even in returning the sport to untapped boxing markets, the phone calls remain the same every time out for Leonard Ellerbe.
The CEO of—and get-sh-t-done man for—Mayweather Promotions has remained hard on the campaign trail for the company’s star client, unbeaten two-time 130-pound titlist Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (22-0, 21KOs) who heads into his third fight of 2019. The year-end capper comes this Saturday as the 25-year old southpaw faces Olympic Gold medalist and former unified featherweight titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa (30-2, 18KOs) for a lightweight title, live on Showtime from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
Early ticket sales suggest a crowd exceeding 12,000 on fight night, which will include a slew of sports and entertainment stars with such requests rolling in the moment the fight was announced.
“It’s going to be an unbelievable atmosphere,” Ellerbe insisted to BoxingScene.com. “[Saturday] night, it’s going to be Black Hollywood up in there.”
The show marks the city’s first piece of championship action since 1998 when home-grown legend Evander Holyfield turned away the challenge of Vaughn Bean in a unified heavyweight title defense. It comes on the heels of Davis’ original hometown of Baltimore, Maryland hosting its first home-grown title fight in more than 80 years. More than 16,000 turned up for Davis’ two-round destruction of mandatory challenger Ricardo Nuñez this past July at Royal Farms Arena, barely two miles from the Upton Boxing Gym where Davis first learned how to box and regularly trains to this day.
Preliminary talks of keeping it local for the next one quickly gave way to bringing big time boxing back to Atlanta, where Davis currently calls home. The move came with immediate ticket requests from A-list stars from all entertainment mediums, similar to his bout in Baltimore and before that in Carson, California, where he drew more than 8,000 for a knockout win over late replacement Hugo Ruiz.
“I’ve been telling people, every time he fights the fans turn out,” notes Ellerbe. “He didn’t get the credit for it before because he wasn’t headlining these shows. But now he’s the star, the main event attraction and they’re turning out. December the 28th is going to be a star-studded event.
“We got performers at the weigh-in (Atlanta-born hip hop recording artists YFL Lucci and Scotty ATL), the red carpet is gonna be a who’s who of all the top entertainers.
Given the company’s namesake, there has come plenty of practice in handling such public demand.
“Each fight, it reminds me more and more of a [Floyd] Mayweather fight,” Ellerbe claims, referring to the retired former five-division champ and the highest grossing athlete in boxing history. “Every time Floyd fought, everyone wanted to be in the place to be.
“It’s been the same thing whenever when announce fights for Gervonta Tank Davis. The demand keeps growing each fight and [this Saturday], I promise, is going to be the hottest ticket in town.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox