Between his earth-shattering power and mainstream appeal, Gervonta "Tank" Davis' claims that he is the current face of boxing come with significant merit. He proved to be "box office" with his 2023 fight against Ryan Garcia currently sitting as the fifth-biggest gate in U.S. boxing history.
Davis, 30, the current WBA lightweight champion, is a three-division champion who has pounded his way through the ranks, boasting an exceptional 93% KO-to-win ratio. After starting his career as Floyd Mayweather's protégé, "Tank" has broken out on his own, packing arenas across the United States and leaving a trail of destruction behind him. He's a proven pay-per-view attraction alongside Canelo Alvarez, but Davis has more attractive options for future megafights.
Ahead of Saturday's title defense against Lamont Roach Jr. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, (8 p.m. ET, Prime Video PPV), we look at "Tank" Davis' best performances that helped shape his career, including his demolition of Garcia, his memorable uppercut to end the fight against Leo Santa Cruz, and others.
April 22, 2023 - KO7 vs. Ryan Garcia
A massive clash between two young knockout artists was a huge box-office success (a reported 1.2 million pay-per-view buys and a more-than-$22 million gate) that thrust Davis firmly alongside Canelo in the "Face of Boxing" conversation following his seventh-round stoppage win. Heading into the highly anticipated fight, Davis and Garcia had finished 88% of their opponents, and very few expected this fight to need a judge's opinion, with both promising to end it inside of 12 rounds.
Garcia started fast, stepping on the gas and firing punches at Davis from the opening bell, landing 10 of 53 punches in the first two rounds, as Davis patiently waited for an opening. He found it with just over a minute remaining in Round 2 and drilled Garcia with a counter left hand that sank him to the canvas. It was the first power punch Davis landed in the fight, with Davis demonstrating extraordinary patience against his high-strung opponent. Garcia made it to his feet and continued bringing the fight to Davis over the next four rounds. In Round 7, Davis delivered a straight left to the body that hardly anybody in the arena saw, but one Garcia certainly felt. A delayed reaction saw Garcia sink to a knee, and he was promptly counted out.
For all his bravado before the fight, Davis surprisingly admitted he was skittish heading into the fight with Garcia.
"I was nervous," Davis said. "It's just me seeing him knock out so many people. I see him knock out so many people in the gym. I see him knock out so many people on clips."
But this time Garcia wouldn't get that KO. Instead, it was Davis who stood tall in front of a sold-out crowd of 20,842 fans at T-Mobile Arena.
Oct. 31, 2020 - KO6 vs. Leo Santa Cruz
In the perspective of many, this was the first real test of Davis' career. He would be stepping into the ring with a four-division champion who was an incredibly active puncher and could give the notoriously economical Davis fits the longer the fight went. Not to mention that Santa Cruz had proved extraordinarily durable throughout his career, having never been knocked down in 39 fights. That changed when he met Davis and the world realized just how real Davis' power was.
As expected, Santa Cruz was busy from the opening bell, throwing 241 punches to Davis' 160 through four rounds. Santa Cruz was ahead in the scorecards through three rounds, but Davis was inching closer and closer to landing a fight-ending punch. To Santa Cruz's credit, he never backed down and forced Davis into a firefight, absorbing punishment while dishing out his own.
In the sixth round, Davis landed arguably the most violent knockout punch of his career. With 30 seconds left in the round, Davis had Santa Cruz's back against the corner. Santa Cruz fired a trio of right hands, the last of which Davis timed perfectly by ducking under and unleashing a vicious left uppercut. The lights were off for Santa Cruz before his body crashed to the canvas in a frightening scene. The knockout catapulted Davis into stardom and cemented him as one of the brightest young talents in all of boxing.
June 15, 2024 - KO8 vs. Frank Martin
Martin was the fourth consecutive undefeated fighter Davis was facing. Although talented, Martin didn't carry the same name value as other potential opponents for Davis and was seen as a high-risk, low-reward option coming off the Garcia knockout win.
Once again, Davis was off to a slow start and lost each of the first three rounds on the judges' scorecards. Martin consistently won the exchanges with Davis while steering clear of the Baltimore fighter's power. However, by the fourth round, Davis began closing the distance and landing with his prolific power punches. It was an impressive demonstration of patience by Davis, who gave Martin a false sense of security by standing in front of him during exchanges and setting up yet another potent sequence that led to his 28th knockout win.
"I knew that he was going to tire down," Davis said afterward. "That's what I was doing. Stand there, be a target so he could tire himself out, and once he tired himself out, I started picking him apart."
In the eighth round, Davis trapped Martin in the corner and stunned "The Ghost" with a left uppercut. Martin was out on his feet, but a wicked straight left-hand follow-up from Davis was an exclamation point on yet another memorable fight-ending sequence.
Dec. 5, 2021 - UD12 vs. Isaac Cruz
The only fight on this list that didn't end inside of the distance is for good reason.
Davis was originally set to face Rolando "Rolly" Romero. But when Romero was pulled from the fight due to sexual assault allegations (later closed without charges) two weeks before the bout, Davis decided to keep the date against a replacement opponent. Cruz carried very little name value as the substitute but was unbeaten in 18 consecutive fights, including victories over Diego Magdaleno and Francisco Vargas. Davis was a significant betting favorite to win the fight, but it never materialized due to a hand injury suffered during the fight and Cruz being decidedly tougher than anticipated.
Davis was forced to put his boxing skills on display and fend off a charging body attack from Cruz, who pressured Davis from the opening bell in a nip-and-tuck affair that he won by a close unanimous decision. It was the first time that fans had a chance to witness Davis fight predominantly off of the back foot and set up counters rather than pursue a knockout. Cruz was relentless, but Davis boxed beautifully, albeit one-handed in the second half of the fight, before doing enough to earn winning scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112.
Davis hasn't gone the distance since.
Jan. 14, 2017 - TKO7 vs. Jose Pedraza
Davis had blasted through obscure opposition up to this point of his career with a 16-0 record, and all but one of those wins came by way of knockout. While impressive, there were questions regarding just how good Davis would be against a high-caliber opponent. Davis had the chance to prove himself against then-IBF junior lightweight champion Pedraza and passed the test with flying colors.
Pedraza had gone undefeated in his career and was looking to make the third defense of the vacant title he won against Andrey Klimov 18 months earlier. Davis entered the fight as the underdog but turned those betting lines upside down with a huge opening round where he belted the Puerto Rican with hooks and uppercuts that rocked Pedraza multiple times. Against the taller Pedraza, Davis managed to routinely land the uppercut and showcase brilliant timing and punch placement. Pedraza adjusted to claw his way back into the fight but Davis had settled into a zone and patiently waited for the opening to unleash with devastating power.
That moment came in the seventh round when Davis uncorked a ferocious right hook that nearly sent Pedraza out of the ring. Pedraza beat the count but was in no shape to continue as Davis won his first major world title and cemented himself as a future star in the sport.