By Lem Satterfield

Southpaw Gervonta Davis told FightHype.com on Tuesday that will pursue his 12th straight knockout and second defense of his WBA “super” super featherweight crown against three-division champion Abner Mares, who will make his 130-pound debut.

The Los Angeles Times’ Lance Pugmire indicated February 9 to be the date, and the venue to be in Southern California near Mares’ native Los Angeles.

“I’ve got a location," said Davis to FightHype.com. "I can’t say it now, but we definitely have a date and a location."

A Baltimore native who turned 24 on November 7, Davis (20-0,19 KOs) is coming off a title-regaining two-knockdown third-round TKO of fellow southpaw Jesus Cuellar (28-3, 21 KOs), of Buenos Aires, Argentina, whose 130-pound debut ended a 16-month ring absence since falling in December 2016 by split-decision to Mares and being dethroned as WBA 126-pound champion.

“I’m hungry to come back, man,"  said Davis, a two-time champion who will end a 10-month ring absence. "I believe this is one of my longest layoffs."

Mares (31-3-1, 15 KOs), who turns 33 on November 28, is 5-for-5 (two knockouts) against southpaw opponents since 2008, all being among the most notable triumphs of his career. The first left-hander Mares defeated was Diosdado Gabi, who retired with a record of 30-4-1 and  21 knockouts following his second-round TKO loss in March 2008.

Mares scored an 11th round knockdown against Cuellar, who had won an interim crown by unanimous decision over Claudio Marrero in August 2013, and whose five defenses included three straight knockouts and stoppages of left-handed former world champions Juan Manuel Lopez and Vic Darchinyan.

In his last fight in June, Mares lost a unanimous decision to three-division champion Leo Santa Cruz in rematch of Santa Cruz’s majority decision win in August 2015, with each of those bouts taking place in the fighters’ native Los Angeles.

In victory over Cuellar, Davis returned to Barclays Center  in Brooklyn, New York, where a then-22-year-old became the youngest reigning champion in January 2017 with a seventh-round knockout that dethroned switch-hitting IBF titleholder Jose Pedraza.

Pedraza has since won three consecutive 135-pound bouts capped by a unanimous decision that dethroned WBO champ Ray Beltran in August, and will battle left-handed three-division titleholder and WBA lightweight counterpart Vasyl Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs) on December 8 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

For his initial IBF title defense for his initial defense in May 2017, Davis traveled to London, where he dropped and stopped previously undefeated southpaw Liam Walsh (21-1, 14 KOs) in the third round in front of Walsh’s hometown fans.

But Davis lost his crown on the scales before his second defense in August, an eighth-round knockout victory over Francisco Fonseca (22-1-1, 16 KOs) on the Mayweather-Conor McGregor undercard. Fonseca has rebounded with three consecutive knockouts and challenges IBF 130-pound champion Tevin Farmer on December 15.

For Cuellar, Davis switched trainers to Kevin Cunningham from career-long corner man Calvin Ford, who served as an assistant. Cunningham was prophetic when he vowed that Davis would “obliterate” Cuellar, coming full circle by becoming a repeat 130-pound champion where he had earned his first crown.

“I’m just ready to get back into the mix, you know, and to fight and to put on a great performance like I do," said Davis. "I'm ready to continue my career. I’ve started training. I’ve probably been training for about two weeks now.”

Darchinyan represented Mares’ second southpaw victory in a 118-pound bout in  December 2010. Four fights and two world titles later, the Mexico-born, Southern California-raised Mares defended his 122-pound crown with a unanimous decision over lefty Anselmo Moreno in November 2012.

In March 2013, Mares moved up another weight class and dethroned 126-pound titleholder Daniel Ponce De Leon via ninth-round TKO, dropping the champion twice. In defeating Ponce De Leon, Mares improved to 26-0-1 and became a three-division world champion.

But Mares was dropped twice and knocked out in the first round of his next fight in August 2013 by Jhonny Gonzalez, who had lost his previous bout in September 2012 to Ponce De Leon by ninth-round technical decision.

Following his first defeat, Mares won three consecutive victories from July 2014 to March 2015, setting up his majority decision loss to Santa Cruz and then the win over Cuellar.

“I want him to talk trash. I feel like it’s building up the fight.," said Davis. "When we get in there, we’re not friends, so it’s going to make the fight have more action. I believe [Mares is] going down."