ATLANTA – Gervonta Davis is about to accomplish something no other boxer did in the United States this year.

The Baltimore-bred knockout artist is expected to attract a crowd of at least 12,000 to State Farm Arena for a card headlined by his lightweight title fight against Yuriorkis Gamboa. That’d make him the only A-side attraction to have lured crowds in excess of 12,000 for fights in different American cities in 2019.

The surest sign of Davis’ undeniable star power occurred July 28, when a capacity crowd of 14,686 packed Royal Farms Arena in his hometown of Baltimore to watch him pummel Panama’s Ricardo Nunez.

That second-round knockout was watched by a peak audience of 594,000 on Showtime, which will have televised each of Davis’ three fights in 2019 by Saturday night. Only one fight on Showtime – Deontay Wilder’s spectacular, first-round knockout of Dominic Breazeale – produced more viewership than Davis’ victory over Nunez this year.

“It’s time to quit calling Gervonta a young star or a rising star or a future star,” Stephen Espinoza, Showtime’s president of sports and event programming, said during a press conference Thursday. “What he has demonstrated this year is he is a bona fide star. He is a box-office draw. That is, without question, when you go into three cities – Los Angeles, Baltimore and Atlanta – you sell tickets and you bring people out, you’re a bona fide attraction. We’re not talking about the future; we’re talking about the present.”

By Los Angeles, Espinoza referred to a record crowd of nearly 9,000 attending Davis’ first-round knockout of Hugo Ruiz on February 9 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Ruiz was a late replacement for Abner Mares, a three-division champion who withdrew from his 130-pound title fight versus Davis due to a detached retina.

Davis’ box office and Nielsen numbers clearly indicate that people want to watch Davis fight more than most other boxers. It’s time now, though, for Davis to start facing a higher level of opposition.

Leonard Ellerbe, CEO for Mayweather Promotions, has said he expects Davis’ first fight of 2020 to headline a pay-per-view show. To convince consumers to pay those types of prices, his handlers must start testing the powerful southpaw more than he has been pushed since his breakout performance in a seventh-round stoppage of former IBF junior lightweight champ Jose Pedraza in January 2017.

Mares at least would’ve provided some name recognition on Davis’ record, the same function the 38-year-old Gamboa will serve Saturday night. Nunez, meanwhile, was the mandatory challenger for the WBA “super” featherweight title Davis vacated to move up to lightweight to box Gamboa.

They’ll fight for a vacant version of the WBA’s lightweight title in the main event of Showtime’s tripleheader Saturday night (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT). Even if the heavily favored Davis defeats Gamboa, Vasiliy Lomachenko still will be recognized as the WBA’s legitimate lightweight champion.

Ideally, if Davis defeats Gamboa, the WBA would do what’s right and order the Lomachenko-Davis fight virtually every boxing fan wants to see. Since we can’t count on the WBA to ever do what makes perfect sense, that won’t happen.

Even a WBA order wouldn’t guarantee Lomachenko-Davis would happen. We’d at least learn, though, if Bob Arum and Al Haymon are willing to discuss one of the highest-profile fights that could be made.

Regardless, with Lomachenko seemingly headed for a lightweight title unification fight against Teofimo Lopez next, Lomachenko-Davis doesn’t appear likely to happen in 2020. High-stakes showdowns with Lopez, Devin Haney or Ryan Garcia are equally unlikely for Davis next year, in part due to similar promotional, network and streaming-service conflicts that’ll prevent us from seeing Lomachenko-Davis anytime soon.

A fight against Leo Santa Cruz seems more realistic for Davis if the 25-year-old Atlanta resident intends to face a top opponent in his first fight next year.

Santa Cruz campaigned for the Davis bout both before and after he defeated Miguel Flores to become a four-division champion on the Wilder-Luis Ortiz undercard November 23 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Santa Cruz claims he’d even be willing to jump up another division to face Davis at lightweight if that’s what it takes to make that fight.

Davis (22-0, 21 KOs) also has said he still can make 130 pounds, and he would be willing to do that for the right fight, Santa Cruz included. The polarizing Davis’ detractors would criticize him for fighting Santa Cruz, too, but the durable, relentless Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs) would be the best opponent on Davis’ record.

The 31-year-old Santa Cruz would be an undeniable upgrade over Gamboa (30-2, 18 KOs), who’s obviously not the same fighter that trouble Terence Crawford at times in their memorable lightweight title fight 5½ years ago.

Robinson Castellanos, a huge underdog, battered Gamboa into submission following seven one-sided rounds in May 2017. Two of Gamboa’s subsequent three wins before he knocked out Rocky Martinez in the second round on the Davis-Nunez undercard resulted in 10-round, majority-decision defeats of Alexis Reyes and Jason Sosa.

Those are among the results that led handicappers to install Davis as a 20-1 favorite to beat Gamboa. Ellerbe cautioned those overlooking the 2004 Olympic gold medalist to remember the Cuban-born Gamboa’s power, speed, skill and experience.

“When you look at Gamboa, we know what he brings to the table,” Ellerbe said. “You hear this chatter going back and forth about he’s an older fighter. We’re not buying that bullsh-t, because one thing we know about Gamboa, he has this phenomenal pedigree, he knows and has seen everything in that ring and, in my opinion, it’s a very dangerous fight for Tank.

“But that’s what we want – we want nothing but the best for Gervonta. And we feel in this main event, that’s what it’s gonna come down to. I feel as though Gamboa is gonna bring out the best in Tank come Saturday night. So, I guarantee you, from top to bottom, this will be a very, very entertaining card. And this main event, I guarantee you it’s gonna end in a knockout.”

If Davis indeed extends his knockout streak to 14, he’ll have completed a productive, busy 2019 with three knockout victories that helped establish him as one of the few bankable box-office draws in American boxing. If 2020 is to include Davis’ debut as the “A” side of a pay-per-view show, however, he’ll have to fight a top opponent, someone significantly better than this version of Gamboa.

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