ATLANTA – The favored ‘A’ side of this pay-per-view show will find himself in a no-win situation Saturday night.

If Gervonta Davis knocks out Mario Barrios, Davis’ detractors will dismiss Barrios as a paper champion cherrypicked by Davis because the undefeated knockout artist didn’t want to fight his legitimate threats in the lightweight division. But if Barrios beats him, the masterful matchmaking that has helped build Davis into a pay-per-view attraction and one of the few bonafide box office draws among American boxers will have gone to waste because Davis and his team got greedy.

It was Davis’ idea to move up two weight classes to battle Barrios, yet even the Baltimore native acknowledged this no-win situation during an interview with BoxingScene.com following their press conference Thursday at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center.

“I mean, it’s always critics,” Davis said. “I can’t win for losing, so my main goal is just beat whoever they put in front of me. He’s a champion at 140. You know, they said that Leo [Santa Cruz] was too small, that he moved up to 130. So, it’s a lose-lose situation for me. You know, so my job is just to beat whoever they put in front of me and do a great job at beating them.”

Davis did a great job at beating Santa Cruz, whom Davis drilled with a left uppercut that suddenly knocked the four-division champion unconscious in the sixth round of their October 31 fight at Alamodome in San Antonio. His doubters dogged Davis for defeating an opponent they deemed a blown-up featherweight who was past his prime in the 32-year-old Santa Cruz (37-2-1, 19 KOs).

There were constructive conversations between handlers for Davis and Ryan Garcia after Garcia knocked out England’s Luke Campbell in the seventh round January 2 in Dallas. Garcia eventually turned his attention toward an ill-fated fight against Manny Pacquiao.

Ultimately, Davis decided to face San Antonio’s Barrios, who stands nearly five inches taller than Davis and has competed at the 140-pound limit for the past four years. If nothing else, no one could contend Davis will bully a smaller opponent in their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event at State Farm Arena (9 p.m. EDT; $74.99).

Still, it was a curious choice in that Davis (24-0, 23 KOs) and his handlers have to know that while technically he can claim a world title in a third division by beating Barrios (26-0, 17 KOs), anyone sensible realizes that Josh Taylor, not Barrios, is the WBA’s true champion in the 140-pound division. That’s an irrefutable criticism of the title that’s at stake, as it’s a secondary championship that shouldn’t exist.

Davis also has made it perfectly clear that this is a temporary move to the 140-pound division, which essentially eliminates any need to discuss a potential showdown with Scotland’s Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs).

But Barrios, defensive flaws and all, is tall enough, long enough and strong enough to complicate matters for the shorter Davis. There is definitely danger involved in battling Barrios, despite Davis’ advantages in power and speed.

“I did this because they was complaining about Leo,” Davis said. “When you dare to be great, you wanna test yourself. So, that’s what I’m doing, I’m testing myself. I’m going up two weight classes. I could’ve went up to 135, but all the champions had fights at that weight. So, I went up to 140 and I’m doing what I’m doing best.”

Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather Promotions’ CEO, has taken a different approach than Davis, the company’s franchise fighter.

Whereas a motivated Davis wants to silence skeptics, Ellerbe basically ignores them. Ellerbe learned throughout Floyd Mayweather’s legendary career that there are some pessimists that you’ll never convert, no matter what you do.

“I don’t think Tank gets the credit because it’s part of boxing, man,” Ellerbe said. “This particular fight is a good-ass fight. But you have the haters and the naysayers out there that are just gonna be negative. It’s just part of the sport. That’s why I put zero energy in that and I focus on continuing to put him in the best situation to be successful. And we’re gonna fight the biggest and best opponents out there. But we can’t do it all at one time. We’ve gotta take it fight by fight, and that’s what it is.”

Ellerbe, Mayweather and Al Haymon are taking a similar measured approach to Davis’ development as they did when Mayweather withstood flak for taking certain fights when frustrated fans wanted him to face other opponents. That’s fine by Davis, no matter how much criticism comes his way.

“It’s part of the job,” Davis said. “Your job is never done in the sport of boxing. It’s most important to just keep your head up straight and just listen to your team, and just beat whoever they put in front of you. Whether it be somebody that’s too small, in the middle, too big, just go out there and do your best. That’s basically the step where I’m at in my life, and that’s what I’m doing.”

Davis isn’t the defensive fighter or the technician Mayweather was when he won world titles in five divisions and became the highest-paid boxer in the history of the sport. Davis is a far superior puncher, though, and a fighter who always delivers value for fans’ entertainment dollars.

Davis’ development into a pay-per-view headliner and a top ticket-seller have left Ellerbe and Mayweather to preach patience to fans who want to see him fight lightweight rivals Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney and/or Garcia as soon as possible.

“I understand it because I went through it for 20-plus years with the best guy of the last couple generations,” Ellerbe said. “I know, still to this day, Floyd doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Some of those wins are aging very well now, though. You’re starting to see more and more, it’s like, ‘Wow! Look at what Floyd really did.’ And it’ll be the same with Tank. It’ll be no different.”

As restless as boxing fans might be, at 26, there remains plenty of time for Davis to fight his contemporaries, namely Lopez, Haney and/or Garcia. For now, the favored ‘A’ side of this pay-per-view show will find himself in a no-win situation Saturday night.

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