After a thrilling night of fights from Las Vegas, it was a knockout finale.
In the main event, Gervonta Davis defeated Frank Martin via highlight-reel knockout in the eighth round to successfully defend his WBA lightweight title. Davis advances to 30-0 after 28 victories were via knockout. Martin loses for the first time in his career, dropping to 18-1.
After not fighting since April of last year, Davis got off to a customarily slow start. Martin, on the other hand, countered well off of Davis’ pressure and won the majority of the first half of the bout.
In the midst of the eighth round, Davis started to heat up and stunned Martin by landing a huge uppercut against the ropes. When Martin let down his guard, Davis countered the uppercut with a massive left hook that knocked Martin down cold.
Having won a lightweight title, Davis has a wide range of choices for his next match. There are plans to unify the titles of lightweight champions Shakur Stevenson and Vasiliy Lomachenko, as well as to rematch champion Isaac Cruz at 140 pounds.
Following the victory, Davis remarked, “Most importantly, I want to just get back to the drawing board.” “Return to the gym and maintain your concentration.” Though I felt a touch rusty, I’m still keeping an eye on all of those guys.
In the co-main event, David Benavidez won the interim WBC title by unanimous decision after dominating previous 175-pound champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk. After being passed over for a bout against Canelo Alvarez, the undefeated 168-pound champion, on multiple occasions, Benavidez advanced to the light heavyweight division.
With ease, Benavidez defeated Gvozdyk to earn mandatory challenger status for the winner of Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev’s uncontested fight in October. Benavidez appeared at ease with the new weight.
Tank Davis and David Benavidez both impressed with decisive victories on a fun-filled night of bouts at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which marked its 100th championship boxing card with a success. View real-time changes from across the card in the section below.
