All right, it’s time for Gervonta Davis to stop dicking around.
Davis notched yet another stoppage within three rounds Saturday on Showtime, detonating Ricardo Nunez in the 2nd. He’s now done this kind of quick work four times in five fights.
It has something to do with Davis’ explosive offense, his blend of speed and power. It also has to do with the fact that since 2017, he’s had six fights and exactly two of those guys belonged in the ring with him.
Showtimes talked up Nunez’s confidence, which only can get you so far when you’ve only fought outside your home country once, and your home country is Panama, which, yeah, has some boxing history but isn’t exactly a hotbed lately; not a single fighter from Panama is in the Transnational Boxing Rankings.
So, Nunez was confident or whatever in the 1st round, which he still lost, and then in the 2nd Davis unleashed a left hand coming out of a clinch that was the beginning of the end. Davis trapped him on the ropes, caught him with several big shots and though Nunez was perhaps more off-balance than badly hurt, he happened to be fighting in a state that recently saw a boxer die and in a coin flip, referee Harvey Dock was gonna stop this one.
You could chalk this up to some kind of easy homecoming fight in Baltimore for Davis, if you were, for some inexplicable reason, inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Davis said afterward he wants Tevin Farmer, another highly-rated junior lightweight. Tevin Farmer says he wants Davis. Davis fights on Showtime. Farmer fights on DAZN. Count on more empty talk instead of us getting this fight Davis ought to be having right now. There are plenty of quality junior lightweights outside of Farmer (and Leo Santa Cruz is willing to move up for Davis). Pick one, Gervonta. We wouldn’t clamor for it if we weren’t eager to see what you’ve really got, because what you’ve got is definitely better than this level.
As impressive as Yuriorkis Gamboa looked on the undercard, Davis should not pick him, even though Gamboa wants it. That would be a big step up from the likes of Nunez, but not as big a step as Davis ought to take. Gamboa was sensational against Rocky Martinez, similarly stopping his man in the 2nd. Of course, Martinez is 36 in real years but closer 87 in terms of the punishment he’s taken in the ring. Save Davis-Gamboa for an “in-between” kinda bout.
(Gervonta Davis, left; Ricardo Nunez, right)
