Gervonta "Tank" Davis

[is a]

As the successor to Mayweather, or more so his protege, David performed remarkably in the ring, with his last win via a KO in an exciting fashion over Leo Santa Cruz, who was considered one of the top 10 fighters P4P in the Ring magazine at one point in history.

He also has a 96% KO rate, KOing 24 out of 25 of his opponents, often ending in one punch knockouts.

So, what do you guys currently think of him as a boxer? Will his career last without a single loss just like his predecessor, or will he face fighters who can match his strengths (and more) and end up getting swept away instead?

Davis really does have the potential to be a mega star in boxing, just like Mayweather/Pac/Canelo/Mike Tyson/etc. It's not often that you see a fighter in the lighter weight classes bringing the kind of KO power to the table that Tank does :0

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate his career so far?

 

[Cariñito]

As the successor to Mayweather, or more so his protege, David performed remarkably in the ring, with his last win via a KO in an exciting fashion over Leo Santa Cruz, who was considered one of the top 10 fighters P4P in the Ring magazine at one point in history.

Leo was going for a championship in his 5th weight division. Same size, LSC probably would beat him.
And Davis last fight was against Barrios

 

[is a]

Same size, LSC probably would beat him

That's where the comparisons in the weigh-ins come in.

Davis is actually shorter than his listed height of 5'5, surprisingly. He had slippers on during the weigh-ins while Santa Cruz didn't wear any kind of footwear at all.

Those slippers weren't even flat either.

Leo Santa Cruz fought Davis' perfect fight though in rounds 5 and 6, trading blows against a guy whose reputation is KOing the crap out of guys inside range.

Spoiler: because fighter height

It's highly unlikely that a fighter is billed as shorter than their actual height (even on Wikipedia) so I'm going to be referencing Leo Santa Cruz' height here. 5'7, or 1.7m? Let's go with that.

585.5px is 1.7m. Santa Cruz' height.
579.5px is Davis' height, but with flip flops on.
15px is the height added to Davis' actual height.
So Davis' actual height is only 564.5px
(564.5 / 585.5) x 1.7m = 1.64m
So Davis is only slightly over 5'4. He's sometimes billed as 5'6 in his fights but in this case they got their height wrong, just like what they did with Dillan Whyte.

and then you compare their pic when they're facing the camera up front, and you can see that Santa Cruz is broader than Davis overall.

In hindsight, Leo Santa Cruz even being able to make the super featherweight limit and even the super bantamweight limit (122lb cap) is about as equally astonishing as Davis' ability to knock guys bigger than him in the ring out cold.

and now Davis can even fight at 140 (against Mario Barrios). He's evolving into a smaller version of Mike Tyson; in his prime of course. It's a decision worthy of respect since he's punching way upwards for someone with his size and frame.

I'll give him a 9/10 for now for his career since he really does have the potential to become one of the greats in his generation, if not exceeding someone of Canelo's caliber (on a P4P basis). He'll need some luck though if he wants to push further and move up permanently to 140, or even 147 since his power pretty much negates a lot of the disadvantages that come with Davis' size.

 

[Hagler]

I dislike the guy big time but he brings something to the table. He has the tools of a WW - power, chin - on a FW’s frame.

My guess is that he’ll end up trying to walk through some punches he won’t take as well as he usually does, but so far the matchmaking was smart enough to avoid it and the kid just has one hell of a beard.

 

[panem-et-circenses]

Are you sure he’ll become a megastar? I don’t see him getting to that A-level, the point at which a fighter is truly a crossover star. Very good skill set, but have you heard him speak? Moreover, he does stupid shit and will probably sabotage himself, if he’s not careful.

7/10 thus far

 

[is a]

He has the tools of a WW - power, chin - on a FW’s frame.

Which is strange enough already because...didn't he miss weight in one of his championship bouts?

Wonder if it was due to laziness on his end or if his appearance is deceptive and he gains a lot of water weight on fight night...

 

[Nova44]

When i watch the All Access stuff of him preparing to fight Cruz he seems like a really grounded guy that would take on anyone... but he makes dumb choices outside of the ring and he isn't fighting any of the big names at LW. I'm sorry, i know it's a cluster fuck at LW where Teo, Haney, Tank, Garcia, and Loma all seem to simultaneously want and not want to fight each other, but Tank has a HUGE fan base that believes in him, he believes in himself, and most of all he has that Julian Jackson power to end you at any time in any round of the fight, and yet he doesn't go to his team and say "Look guys, i know you have a plan for me, but i want to fight the best, believe in me".

It's just super frustrating to watch Tank, and the entire LW division slowly just become irrelevant. If post-prime Linares could send Haney to chicken dance town I'm 100% sure Tank obliterates him. Linares also dropped Loma way back, granted i don't think Loma was actually hurt but it's still there and Loma can take a while to get into a fight, it's not guaranteed but it's winnable for Tank. Garcia got downed by Campbell so again Tank should see this and lick his lips, and lastly we have Teo, i think this is the most dangerous fight for Tank so i wouldn't blame him for staying away at the moment, but the rest of the big LWs are winnable fights, what is the problem?

LSC was a highlight reel KO but not a big win, Barrios was a good come from behind win against a bigger guy but also the weakest champ in his division, and if he gets past Cruz that's a good win too but against an unproven commodity that many will write off as a nobody. Until he fights one of the LWs i mentioned or moves up and fights some like Prograis i'm not impressed.

Interesting interview with Tank (questions are timestamped in the top comment)


According to the interview Teo has talked to Top Rank about fighting Josh Taylor in April so that's something to look out for.

 

[Aarkan]

Aint him the guy indicted on many counts of a Hit-and-run?
Nothing major gonna happens probably since he is a famous athlete, but idk about this mega star potential
He also seems to be super protected by mayweather

 

[is a]

Very good skill set, but have you heard him speak? Moreover, he does stupid shit and will probably sabotage himself, if he’s not careful.

He's not a fighter whose personality outside the ring grabs people's attention, although him being Mayweather's protege is a selling point by itself.

Also, isn't it very rare for a fighter to emerge where he knocked out every one of his challengers, while being smaller than the vast majority of his opponents at that.

He may have competition against others who also have no-loss records, so he's not unique here. However, I truly thought that his explosive style and his smaller stature + knocking out bigger guys would give the boxing fans some memories of Mike Tyson.

His actions outside the ring? Unless it's a serious felony, it's hardly gamebreaking, although domestic abuse charges don't help, really.

Like @Nova44 mentioned, maybe it's because he has major competitors that are publicly known in Tank's main weight class.

 

[Mr2urbo]

It looks so scripted whenever he’s trying to be a nice guy, he’s in exciting fights but something about him I dont like

 

[is a]

It looks so scripted whenever he’s trying to be a nice guy, he’s in exciting fights but something about him I dont like

The fact that his real personality may be the opposite outside the camera and the presence of the media?

Could be. It's called the nice guy syndrome <Lmaoo>

But maybe Im being overly harsh here. He could be restricted under a contract that prevents him from fighting even if Davis wanted to.

 

[panem-et-circenses]

He's not a fighter whose personality outside the ring grabs people's attention, although him being Mayweather's protege is a selling point by itself.

Also, isn't it very rare for a fighter to emerge where he knocked out every one of his challengers, while being smaller than the vast majority of his opponents at that.

He may have competition against others who also have no-loss records, so he's not unique here. However, I truly thought that his explosive style and his smaller stature + knocking out bigger guys would give the boxing fans some memories of Mike Tyson.

His actions outside the ring? Unless it's a serious felony, it's hardly gamebreaking, although domestic abuse charges don't help, really.

Like @Nova44 mentioned, maybe it's because he has major competitors that are publicly known in Tank's main weight class.

you can be an atg and not reach the level of those mentioned. Davis doesn’t have much of a personality and his interviews are grinding. The Floyd rub def mattered but the rest is up to him. I just don’t think he has it.

 

[Yehudim]

Leo was going for a championship in his 5th weight division. Same size, LSC probably would beat him.
And Davis last fight was against Barrios

You ain’t Mexican big dog, you don’t have to whiteknight every Mexican fighter

 

[Mr2urbo]

you can be an atg and not reach the level of those mentioned. Davis doesn’t have much of a personality and his interviews are grinding. The Floyd rub def mattered but the rest is up to him. I just don’t think he has it.

This

Not only does he lack personality he slurs pretty bad for a young guy

And again I’m not falling for the nice guy act, this fool knocked a cell phone out of a fans hand for no reason, and on another topic, I get this weird vibe that Mayweather fighters are manipulated.

 

[Yehudim]

He's not a fighter whose personality outside the ring grabs people's attention, although him being Mayweather's protege is a selling point by itself.

Also, isn't it very rare for a fighter to emerge where he knocked out every one of his challengers, while being smaller than the vast majority of his opponents at that.

He may have competition against others who also have no-loss records, so he's not unique here. However, I truly thought that his explosive style and his smaller stature + knocking out bigger guys would give the boxing fans some memories of Mike Tyson.

His actions outside the ring? Unless it's a serious felony, it's hardly gamebreaking, although domestic abuse charges don't help, really.

Like @Nova44 mentioned, maybe it's because he has major competitors that are publicly known in Tank's main weight class.

you’re never going to be a star if you don’t take big fights and win them. Dudes like Tank and Crawford have a lot of hype and appeal about them but when you don’t take the big fights, you don’t reach that next level.

 

[Cariñito]

You ain’t Mexican big dog, you don’t have to whiteknight every Mexican fighter

I am Mexican and yes I do.

 

[Yehudim]

I am Mexican and yes I do.

No you ain’t, Chicano.

 

[Cariñito]

No you ain’t, Chicano.

@Fugazy
He can tell u

 

[Yehudim]

@Fugazy
He can tell u

Did you show him your chorizo or what?

 

[Cariñito]

Did you show him your chorizo or what?

He said the same things you did and then figured out that I was Mexican. Hes Puerto Rican or some shit.
Pretty sure you're some sorta fake Jew.