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Gervonta “Tank” Davis described his move into two weight classes to 140-pound pay-per-view Saturday in Atlanta, a move that proved “bold to be cool.” Those who watched his performance would be hard pressed to disagree.
Davis (25-0, 24 KOs), a 26-year-old rising star, tops his second consecutive PPV and added a world title in the third welterweight class by stopping Mario Barrios (26-1, 17 KOs), WBA Regular Champion at 140 lbs., In round 11 of a slow, exciting and dramatic race inside the State Farm Arena.
Although Davis was ahead on all three scorecards in the stopping time, Barrios was much busier and fought it off in what appeared to be equal terms during a series of competitive and exciting rounds to finish the fight.
Davis, a Baltimore native, rallied in round 11 after a hot start from Barrios to knock him out for the third time in the fight with a hunk to the body. After Barrios was back on his feet, a wave of Davis along the ropes forced referee Thomas Taylor to jump at 2:13 of the round.
“I made it hard, I made it hard,” Davis said. “I could definitely have made it easier but it is what it is.” “I climbed into two weight classes and got the job done.”
Davis, the 130-pound WBA champion and 135-pound WBA minor title holder, proved himself the biggest player despite giving up nearly six inches in height on his welterweight debut, just nine months after scoring this year’s Knockout in 2020 by finishing Leo Santa Cruz in a hoodie in Round 6 of the Junior Lightweight Championship.
“It was just tweaks. He’s 140 years old [pounds] And I wanted to catch him with clean shots,” Davis said. I just don’t want to take any kind of shot. At first I missed them but eventually I caught up with him.
“I was going two weight classes but I knew if I caught him, I could get him out of there.”
After a solid start by Barrios using a jab to control distance without extending himself to respond, young Davis made the most important adjustment to the fight in the fifth round when he began blocking Barrios with his right glove. The change disarmed Barrios from the shot as he became concerned that the fastest Davis would encounter him up close.
“I’ve never been a hater, congratulations Tank. He came here and did what he wanted,” Barrios said. “This was nothing short of an exciting fight and that’s what we came here to do. I’ll be back.”
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Davis looked as if he had captured the momentum for good in the eighth round when he stunned Barrios to an advancing right hook and knocked him down hard. This was followed by Davis to impose a second knockout with his left hand, but he spent the final two minutes of the round trying unsuccessfully to finish off the hard Barrios, leaving the gas tank low.
Barrios seemed to hurt Davis with his left hand in the ninth round. In the next round, the two fighters routinely exchanged big shots in the middle of the ring as movement increased.
What made the scene of watching the fight even more interesting was that Floyd Mayweather, Davis’s promoter and mentor, twice approached him in the corner between rounds late in the fight to tell Davis he would likely be on the scorecards in a close fight. “I knew [Barrios] injured. Davis said, “I had to catch him at the right time. Floyd came up to me and was honest, and told me I was disappointed. He said, ‘Show me you’re great. This guy set the tone, I’m just following in his footsteps. Floyd, I appreciate you. I’m grateful for being’ in this position.”
Every time Barrios had big moments as the fight moved into the championship rounds, Davis was able to muster more along his stretch to pummel him with a big stoppage shot.
“My coach was telling me to go for a hard hit side but I, Sothbow, so I faked I was going left and threw my hook over the top, that’s how I grabbed him,” Davis said.
Davis outperformed Barrios by a margin of 96-93, according to CompuBox. Both fighters dropped 17 body shots in total, but it was Barrios who used a static attack from them late on to help slow Davis’ pace.
CBS Sports was with you all the way on Saturday, so be sure to catch up on live scores and highlights below.
Fighting card, results Gervonta Davis (c) def. Mario Barrios via TKOErickson Lubin Round 11 defeated. Jason Rosario via sixth round TKOCarlos Adames def. Alexis Salazar via third-round knockout Argenis Mendez via TKO for the eighth round (injury) Davis vs. Barrios scorecard, live coverage Davis 10 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 9 10 TKO 96 Barrios 9 10 10 10 9 9 9 7 10 9 92
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