Gervonta Davis is stepping up to fight Mario Barrios for his WBA Super Lightweight title in June
Well it looks like Showtime Boxing is not playing any games! In their latest announcement, the brass at Showtime has released a slew of entertaining fights to air over the next several months. Among them, it was revealed that WBA World Lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (24-0, 23 KO’s) will take on WBA World Super Lightweight champion Mario “El Azteca” Barrios (26-0, 17 KO’s) on June 26. However, this particular clash will take place at super lightweight, leaving only Barrios’ belt on the chopping block.
As far as Tank is concerned, this is excellent news and a shift in the right direction. That’s because the last time that Davis made headlines, he was crashing cars and suspiciously fleeing the scene of the accident. Since that time, there have been no major updates, so we will assume at this point that no news is good news. Pushing that melodrama to the side, we can focus on this upcoming main event prizefight.
SOMEONE’S “0” MUST GO!
In his last in-ring performance, Tank scored a sensational one-punch knockout over former world champion Leo Santa Cruz. The chilling uppercut that left Cruz looking like a corpse in the corner instantly went viral and reaffirmed Davis’ striking power. Yet, it would be negligent to not mention that up to that point in the bout, Cruz was thoroughly out-boxing the Maryland native. There is little doubt that Barrios will try to recreate much of that skillful success when he steps in with Davis.
For the last several years, Barrios has been rising in the rankings and proving his worth in the ring. Then, roughly a year and half ago, El Azteca outmaneuvered Batyr Akhmedov to claim the vacant WBA World Super Lightweight title. Since taking control of the strap, the talented Texan made one successful defense of the title. That took place on October 31, 2020 when Barrios knocked out Ryan Karl in the sixth. The upcoming clash with Davis will mark his second attempted title defense.
It will be interesting to see how Tank handles the height and reach of Barrios. When last in the squared-circle, Davis was the bigger man as Cruz stepped up in weight to make the bout. Now it will be Davis leaving his comfort zone to tangle with a bigger man. When a boxer moves up, it is always intriguing to see if their power and durability will carry up with them. Given how much pop Tank has in his punches, he should be okay. Yet, in the tricky world of boxing, it is never a great idea to assume anything! Thankfully for us fight fans, we won’t have to wait long because June is right around the corner!
By: Bakari Simpson
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