After the longest layoff of his professional career, Gervonta Davis “Tank” made a triumphant return to the ring, reminding the boxing world of his formidable one-punch power.

Davis secured an eighth-round knockout against Frank Martin on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, retaining his WBA lightweight title.

Gervonta Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) showcased his signature power with a devastating left uppercut followed by a straight left, sending Martin crashing into the ropes and onto the canvas. This victory marked Davis’s fourth consecutive knockout win. Despite conceding five of the first six rounds to gather data on his opponent, Davis ended the bout in spectacular fashion.

“A couple rounds, I didn’t feel like I warmed up completely like I wanted to, but I did warm up as the fight was going on,” said Davis, who was fighting for the first time in 421 days. “I knew that he was going to tire down, so I was just standing there, being a target for him so he could tire himself out. And once he tired himself out, I started picking him apart.”

Entering the seventh round, Martin (18-1, 12 KOs) held a slight edge in power punches, leading 37-31 according to CompuBox statistics. However, Davis reversed this margin dramatically by landing 19 power punches to Martin’s 11 in that round.

The seventh round set the stage for Gervonta Davis brutal finale. He stalked Martin into the corner and began unloading a flurry of punches. A clean left hand stunned Martin, and Davis unleashed another powerful shot that sealed the knockout victory, drawing cheers from the announced crowd of 13,249.

Davis had not fought since his seventh-round knockout of Ryan Garcia in April 2023, also in Las Vegas. His time away from the ring included a 44-day stint in a detention center for violating the terms of his house arrest related to a car accident that injured four people, including a pregnant woman.

“I’ve been around for a long time,” said Davis, whose right cheek was swollen and red from absorbing blows in the early rounds. “I’ve been training since I was 7 years old and competing since I was 8. It’s like second nature. It’s about staying focused, making sure my mind is on a goal, and that’s always to come out on top.”— Gene Wang

Gervonta Davis is one of the most ferocious champions in the sport of boxing having knocked out all but two of his 30 opponents.

Now WBA Lightweight World Champion, ‘Tank’ from Baltimore made his first defence of the belt with a knockout win over previously undefeated Frank Martin.

In his typical fashion of giving away a few rounds to lure his opponent in, the 29-year-old found his opportunity in the eighth to lay fellow southpaw Martin flat on his back.

He is one of four champions in the 135 ranks, joined by Shakur Stevenson, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Denys Berinchyk.

In an interview with The Only Kayla, two-weight undisputed champion Claressa Shields defended Stevenson for hitting back at criticism he has received due to his last two performances. In doing so, she named his as the only fighter who has a chance against Gervonta Davis.

“This boy got three-time division world champion, silver medal at the Olympics, one of the best fighters in the world right now. The only threat to Tank Davis right now is Shakur. And you just told this man he’s a s**t fighter. He spends every day in the gym trying to get better and be a great fighter. You can say that to him, but when he comes back to you and says something now you’re hurt and sad.

One of the most sought after fights in the sport, Davis-Stevenson became more realistic this week.

 

‘Tank’ was previously in early talks with another champion in Vasiliy Lomachenko but the Ukrainian has decided he is not currently motivated enough to take the fight.

That leaves the door open for Shakur, who recently became a free agent, to step in and negotiate the fight all boxing fans want to see.

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Gervonta Davis is moving on from Vasyl Lomachenko.

The pair were deep in negotiations to square off this year in a WBA and IBF lightweight world title unification clash.