Gervonta Davis: record, next fight and profile →
Just three weeks after his last fight, Mexican boxer Hugo "Cuatito" Ruiz will return to the ring with the dream of winning his third divisional world title, with confidence in his punch and the belief that he can shock the champion Gervonta Davis.
It goes without saying that 2018 was a year to forget for Gervonta Davis. The lone highlight of the year for the unbeaten southpaw was beginning a second tour as a super featherweight titlist, blowing through former 126-pound title claimant Jesus Cuellar in three rounds last April.
Gervonta Davis didn’t know Hugo Ruiz existed this time last week. Davis did some homework, though, once Ruiz replaced Abner Mares on Wednesday as his opponent on 10 days’ notice. What the unbeaten Baltimore native learned is that Ruiz is a bigger, stronger fighter than Mares, someone who’ll press their 12-round, 130-pound title fight February 9.
Gervonta Davis will have fought just three rounds in the past 18 months by the time the opening bell sounds for his Showtime-televised headliner this weekend in Carson, Calif. If not for the around-the-clock hustle from his surrounding team, that dreaded stretch of inactivity could be even longer.
The injury that forced Abner Mares to withdraw last week from his fight against Gervonta Davis is much more serious than he initially led everyone to believe. Several media outlets reported that Mares suffered an elbow injury during training camp for their February 9 fight in Carson, California. Mares revealed Sunday on national television that a detached retina in his right eye is actually what caused him to pull out of their scheduled 12-rounder for Davis’ WBA “super” world super featherweight title.
Barely two weeks ago, Hugo Ruiz was forced to settle for a replacement opponent in a fight originally intended for a portion of the 126-pound title. He now finds himself in the role of late replacement, challenging for a 130-pound title. The 30-year from Los Mochis, Mexico—who is now based in California—has agreed to terms for a February 9 showdown with unbeaten super featherweight titlist Gervonta Davis. Ruiz takes the fight as a late replacement for Abner Mares, who was forced to withdraw after suffering an elbow injury.
Three-division, four-time champion Abner Mares has been forced to pull out of the WBA Super Featherweight title match against two-time super featherweight champion Gervonta Davis on Saturday, February 9 after suffering an injury while training. Davis will now defend against former world champion Hugo Ruiz in the main event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, with coverage beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California and presented by Premier Boxing Champions.
Gervonta Davis will face someone other than Abner Mares in Davis’ first fight in 9½ months. Multiple sources have confirmed to BoxingScene.com that Mares has withdrawn from their 12-round, 130-pound title fight due to an undisclosed injury sustained during training camp recently. Mares, 33, was supposed to challenge Davis, 24, for the unbeaten Baltimore southpaw’s WBA “super” world super featherweight title February 9 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Gervonta Davis is relocating his training camp today and traveling from his hometown of Baltimore to finish camp in Los Angeles as he prepares defend his title against three-division world champion Abner Mares.
After coming off a year that saw him land just one fight, Gervonta Davis was less interested in where his next fight would take place as much as it being the first of a much busier 2019 in-ring campaign. The unbeaten 24-year old from Baltimore, Md. will make the first defense of his second tour as a super featherweight titlist when he faces former three-division title claimant Abner Mares. Their Showtime-televised contest will take place February 9 in Carson, California, mere minutes from Mares’ Los Angeles hometown.