Davis v Santa Cruz
In his pay-per-view debut, ‘regular’ WBA world lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (24-0, 23 KO’s) scored a sixth round KO of WBA super world super featherweight champion Leo Santa “El Terremoto” Cruz (37-2-1, 19 KO’s). In order to make the bout, Tank agreed to compete at the super featherweight weight limit.
Prior to the weigh-in, there was intense speculation that Davis would not make the limit. This is largely due to missing and struggling to come in under regulation in several other prizefights. Whereas weight was a prevalent issue for Davis, many wondered where Cruz’s head was before the bout. This was because his father, who suffers from chronic health problems, was not in great condition.
During his training camp to prepare for Carl “The Jackal” Frampton (28-2, 16 KO’s), Cruz’s father was hospitalized for a significant portion of time. El Terremoto believes that this emotional turmoil is what led to his first and only professional loss. So, many were curious to see how he performed against Davis.
LONG RANGE BLUES
The bout got off to a fast start that saw Davis take the lead. In spots, Santa Cruz threw his famous high volume combinations, but for the most part he was forced into a shell. El Terremoto continued using a very tight defense in the second but took the action to Davis. Although he was not throwing nearly his usual amount of punches, Santa Cruz was taking the bout over.
As the shorter man, with shorter reach, Tank had resigned himself almost exclusively to counter-punching. Then, in the fourth, Santa Cruz abandoned his long range attack and opted to compete on the inside. This offered Davis his best opportunity to score. And the Baltimore native connected with an impressive amount of hooks to the body. Along with body shots, Tank twisted El Terremoto’s head with a number of crisp uppercuts.
Santa Cruz did not wilt under the pressure, or power, and managed to blast Davis with numerous eye-catching punches. Yet, when the fifth round came Santa Cruz resumed his slower, long range style of fighting.
ONE-HITTER QUITTER
With the coming of the sixth round, the action increased greatly. El Terremoto was finally throwing high-volume punches in the fashion that he is known for. On the flip side, Tank was digging to the body like his life depended on it. The combination of these changes greatly increased the action and easily made this the best round of the fight. There was a brief halt in action when referee Rafael Ramos gave Cruz time to recover from a low blow.
El Terremoto did not take much time before resuming the action. In short order, Cruz found himself against the ropes, in the corner, with a swarming Tank glued to his face. Then Davis landed one of the nasty left uppercuts that had been landing all night. However, this time, Cruz did not see it coming and immediately fell limply to the canvas.
Referee Rafael Ramos near instantly waived the contest off. For a couple of tense minutes, Leo Santa Cruz remained motionless on his back. Yet, after a few minutes of the doctors tending to him, Cruz did rise from the ground appearing to be okay. With the soon to be viral knockout, Gervonta Davis has claimed the best win of his professional career.
By: Bakari Simpson
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