By Lem Satterfield

Gervonta Davis will prove “I belong in the pound-for-pound discussions” with the February 9 defense of his WBA "super" super featherweight crown against three-division champion Abner Mares at The Stub Hub Center in Carson, California, near Mares’ native Los Angeles.

The 24-year-old Davis (20-0, 19 KOs) became a two-time champion with April’s title-earning two-knockdown third-round TKO of fellow southpaw Jesus Cuellar (28-3, 21 KOs), of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and pursues his 12th straight knockout and first defense against Mares (31-3-1, 15 KOs), a 33-year-old making  his 130-pound debut on the eve of Sunday night’s 61st Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

 “The entire city of Los Angeles will be on fire for with the Davis-Mares fight and then the Grammy’s,” said Ellerbe. “We fully expect it to be a star-studded event with two hot events all in one weekend.”

Davis brutally dispatched Cuellar, flooring him with a piercing straight left to the ribs in the second round, again in the third from a left to the abdomen, and for the final time by ending a four-punch combination with a left uppercut to the chin followed by a right to the temple.

Cuellar’s 130-pound debut against Davis ended a 16-month ring absence since falling in December 2016 by split-decision to Mares and being dethroned as WBA 126-pound champion.

“Tank is a complete fighter and a straight K-I-L-L-A who looks to destroy anybody he’s in the ring with. Once he figures Abner out, Tank will make a statement against Abner, who is a future Hall of Famer in my eyes,” said Ellerbe of Davis, a native of Baltimore who will end a 10-month ring absence.

“Tank’s not just a knockout artist, he's a skilled boxer who can do it all --tremendous body punching on the elite level, one of the most devastating punchers in the entire sport. Yet he’s only shown a snap shot of what he’s capable of. But this won’t be an easy fight. Abner’s been on the big stage against great fighters and he’s motivated to knock Tank off.”

In his last fight in June, Mares lost a unanimous decision to three-division champion Leo Santa Cruz (35-1-1, 19 KOs) in rematch of Santa Cruz’s majority decision win in August 2015, with each of those bouts taking place in Los Angeles.

In facing Davis, Mares returns to the site of his first-round stoppage loss to Jhonny Gonzalez, who floored Mares twice to dethrone him as WBC 126-pound champion.

But during an interview with BoxingScene.com, Mares said he chose Davis over considerations of facing left-handed WBC 126-pound titleholder Gary Russell (29-1, 17 KOs) and two-division and WBO interim champion Carl Frampton (26-1, 15 KOs).

“There were two other fights that were maybe not as risky as Gervonta, and we’re talking about Gary Russell or Carl Frampton. But I said, ‘No, I wanna move up to 130 and I wanna fight ‘Tank’ Davis.’ My trainer is Robert Garcia, and we’ve definitely done our homework and we know what type of fight we have in front of us. We’re very confident, and that’s just the way that it is,” said Mares, who is 5-for-5 (two knockouts) against southpaw opponents since 2008.

“I’ve seen a lot of comments like, ‘Oh, they’re throwing Abner to the wolves,’ and ‘They chose the wrong fight for Abner.’ But I want to put this out there and make it clear that I chose this fight. I mean, I actually said, ‘I wanna move up to 130, and I wanna fight Gervonta Davis.’ This is just a personal feeling that I have because I’m that veteran who believes he can deal with a guy as fast, skillful and talented as Gervonta is. I’m not saying that it’s going to be an easy fight, because it’s not. But I just wanted to prove myself and give myself a test. I wanna make it known that nobody gave me this fight, and I’m very comfortable with this decision.”

Davis compares favorably to other top fighters against common opponents.

Jose “The Sniper” Pedraza (25-2, 12 KOs) lost for the first time by brutal seventh-round stoppage to Davis in January 2017, and for the second, at 135 pounds by unanimous decision to left-handed three-division champion Vasyl Lomachenko (12-1, 9 KOs) on December 8.

Davis dethroned Pedraza as IBF titleholder, and three-division champion Lomachenko floored “The Sniper” twice in the 11th round, adding Pedraza’s WBO crown to his WBA version.

Davis finished the switch-hitting Pedraza with a blistering right hook to the jaw as a follow up to a trio of head-swiveling lefts, his eighth consecutive stoppage claiming a world title in his first try and, at age 22, making him boxing’s youngest reigning champion.

Pedraza had won three straight 135-pound bouts after Davis, and withstood a 40-plus punch 11th round by Lomachenko, a 30-year-old two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist.

“But didn’t stop him,” was Davis’s reaction to Lomachenko’s performance against Pedraza on his Twitter account on December 8. “There’s only one way to settle this and that’s a fight...2 shots vs 43 shots. You pick.”

In October 2012, Pedraza improved to 11-0 with seven knockouts following a seventh-round TKO of left-handed then-late replacement Tevin Farmer of Philadelphia.

Last Saturday, Farmer (28-4-1, 6 KOs) earned his 21st consecutive victory and second IBF title defense by unanimous decision (117-111 three times) over against Francisco Fonseca (22-2-1, 16 KOs).

Fonseca was after his fourth straight stoppage victory since August 2017, when Davis ended his five-fight knockout streak with his own one-knockdown, eighth-round knockout in a non-title bout.

“Gervonta beats any of those guys you mentioned," said Ellerbe, without repeating the names brought up by Boxingscene.com. “I’m not concerned with the whole comparison thing because Gervonta takes care of anybody in front of him. When you’re in with Tank, it’s a whole different dynamic.”

Davis traveled to London for his initial IBF title defense in May 2017, 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 fighting Fonseca on the Mayweather-Conor McGregor undercard.

“I’m very excited to be showcased in my first main event in the United States on February 9,” said Davis. “I want to make a statement in this fight by putting on a tremendous performance against an experienced world champion like Abner Mares. I plan on showing everyone why I belong in the pound-for-pound discussions and why I’m the most exciting champion in boxing today.”