LAS VEGAS — Despite snapping a career-long layoff of 14 months, lightweight superstar Gervonta “Tank” Davis proved on Saturday that he, indeed, ain’t afraid of no “Ghost,” or any other fighter for that matter.
Davis (30-0, 28 KOs), whose team was dressed in “Ghostbusters” gear as he walked to the ring inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena to the movie theme song, took care of unbeaten top contender Frank “The Ghost” Martin with relative ease to defend his WBA title at 135 pounds.
In his first fight since knocking out Ryan Garcia in their blockbuster pay-per-view card last April (with a 44-day jail term in between for violating the terms of his house arrest), the 29-year-old Davis looked both menacing and spectacular in how he repeatedly walked down Martin (18-1, 12 KOs) before viciously stopping him at 1:29 of Round 8.
After a slow start, which he ascribed to being rusty, Davis began to routinely walk Davis from corner to corner and unleash power shots after taking away his opponent’s jab due to the threat of his power. Eventually, that same power caught up with Martin as Davis landed a left uppercut in the corner to stun him before nearly knocking him out cold with a left cross.
Martin, 29, was wobbly as he reached his feet at the count of 10, but referee Harvey Dock waved off the fight after looking into his eyes.
“I was rusty but it was OK because I’m back,” Davis said. “A couple of rounds, I felt like I completely needed a warmup but its OK. His footwork wasn’t bothering me. I knew he would tire out. That’s why we decided to just stand there and be a target for him so he could tire himself out [throwing punches].”
CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday with the live results and highlights below.
Fight card, results
- Gervonta Davis (c) def. Frank Martin via eighth-round knockout
- David Benavidez vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk via unanimous decision (116-112, 117-111, 119-109)
- Alberto Puello def. Gary Antuanne Russell via split decision (109-118, 115-112, 114-113)
- Carlos Adames (c) def. Terrell Gausha via unanimous decision (119-109, 118-110, 118-110)
Davis vs. Martin scorecard, live coverage
| Davis (c) | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | KO | 68 | ||||
| Martin | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 65 |
