Gervonta Davis: record, next fight and profile →
This Saturday at the Copper Box Arena, one of boxing’s youngest world champions, 22-year-old Floyd Mayweather-promoted Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis defends his IBF World Super-Featherweight belt against unbeaten Brit Liam Walsh.
Floyd Mayweather's advisor has compared Saturday's fight between his protege Gervonta Davis and Britain's Liam Walsh to the night Mayweather overcame Arturo Gatti. At London's Copper Box Arena, the American makes the first defence of his IBF super-featherweight title while fighting for the first time outside the USA. The 22-year-old Davis established himself as a fighter of potentially the highest calibre when he won his title by stopping Puerto Rico's Jose Pedraza in January, and on Saturday against Walsh faces his greatest professional test.
This, according to Gervonta Davis’ handlers, is just the beginning. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his promotional company’s CEO, Leonard Ellerbe, don’t just view Davis as the flagship fighter for Mayweather Promotions. They consider the powerful southpaw from Baltimore boxing’s next big thing.
Liam Walsh is so intent on taking the IBF world super-featherweight title from Gervonta Davis he left his wife in labour for a training camp. Son Ryan was born last month, hours after leaving the family home in Cromer for a sparring trip to Wales. That meant it was several days before Walsh saw his latest arrival for the first time.
Gervonta Davis is completely comfortable with making his first title defense overseas. Davis understood that it made more financial sense to travel to the United Kingdom to battle British contender Liam Walsh on Saturday in London. The boxing business is booming in England and when your promoter is the highest-paid boxer in the sport’s history, you tend to listen to his advice.
Former five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., and IBF super featherweight champion Gervonta Davis, are expecting a new middleweight king to be crowned this fall, when Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (49-1-1, 34KOs) challenges IBF, IBO, WBC, WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs).
Gervonta Davis Training Camp Photos Gallery - IBF Super-Featherweight World Champion Gervonta Davis has promised to capitalise on any Liam Walsh mistakes when the rivals battle it out at London's Copper Box Arena on May 20, live on BT Sport and BoxNation.
At the request of promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr., Gervonta Davis moved the final week of his training camp from Baltimore to Las Vegas. It motivated Davis to work alongside Mayweather and to have his mentor help him prepare for a title defense in enemy territory. Davis will be in London by Sunday for a mandatory defense of his IBF super featherweight championship against England’s Liam Walsh on May 20.
At the Copper Box Arena, London, next Saturday unbeaten Liam Walsh steps into the ring to challenge one of the youngest Champions in boxing Gervonta Davis. He has the backing of promoter Floyd Mayweather and holds the IBF World Super-Featherweight Title.
Like everyone else, Liam Walsh was impressed with how easily Gervonta Davis handled Jose Pedraza. Davis dominated Pedraza on his way to scoring a sixth-round technical knockout and winning the IBF world super featherweight title January 14 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. As impressive as Davis was against Pedraza (22-1, 12 KOs), Walsh wants people to realize it’s still too soon to tout the hard-hitting Davis (17-0, 16 KOs) as a future superstar.