By David P. Greisman

Washington, DC - Gervonta Davis is one of Floyd Mayweather’s protégés, someone Mayweather has tabbed as the future of the sport. So it wasn’t a surprise that Davis got the spotlight by opening the Spike TV broadcast undercard to Adrien Broner’s fight with Ashley Theophane.

And Davis took advantage of it, scoring a sixth-round technical knockout over Guillermo Avila.

Davis, who is from just up the highway in Baltimore, had the crowd at the D.C. Armory cheering as he landed flush shot after flush shot and then roaring once he closed the show.

Davis’ southpaw left crosses landed from the outset. He got too confident and missed with a home run left hand in the opening round. Avila was game, pursuing Davis in the second round, absorbing shots and attempting to stem the tide by landing punches of his own. Davis’ hand speed and superior skills proved to be too much for him, though.

Davis hurt Avila with a left hand in the third. Avila fired back with several punches. The damage had already been done, with a large cut opened underneath Avila’s left eye.

Davis poured on the punishment in the fourth, landing left hand after left hand. Avila remained standing that round and decided to move more in the fifth. Toward the end of the round, however, Davis landed a left hand that knocked Avila down and knocked out Avila’s mouthpiece. Davis stood in front of his fallen foe and danced, taunting him. Avila was able to get up, and the bell rang.

The fight wouldn’t last much longer.

Avila again tried to come out firing early on, only to get caught with two left crosses from Davis that drove him to the ropes, followed by three hard left uppercuts that brought the referee jumping in. The end came 29 seconds into the round.

Davis, who is just 21, moves to 15-0 with 14 KOs. Avila, a 23-year-old from Mexico, falls either to 15-6 with 12 KOs if you go by the official bout sheet or 16-6 with 13 KOs if you go by BoxRec.