By:Bryant Romero
Gervonta “Tank” Davis is working his way and building towards becoming the next American PPV superstar in boxing. His next step towards that journey is a chance to become a two time world champion when he faces former champion Jesus Cuellar (28-2, 21 KOs) this Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. In what the organizers of the event say is for the vacant WBA Super World super featherweight title. That is confusing since the WBA already promised not to create anymore title belts and if this bout is truly for the vacant Super title then Alberto Machado the current world champion for the WBA at super featherweight has been downgraded to regular title holder, in favor of Davis challenging Cuellar who hasn’t fought in 16 months and is coming off a loss in a lower weight category.
Nevertheless, Davis (19-0, 18 KOs) is a significant favorite to win the bout, but admits he hasn’t done much studying of his next opponent.
Photo Credit: Jose Pineiro/SHOWTIME
““I’m not really into researching my opponents—or other fighters other than the ones that I like. I just train hard and fight who is in front of me. I know a little bit about him [Jesus Cuellar]. I know that he can hit, that he’s not going to back down and that he’s a tough opponent. I believe he’s my toughest opponent to date. On April 21, we will see if he is ready. I know for sure I will be,” Davis said.
Davis is coming off his best year as a professional prize fighter winning his first world title last January when he stopped previously undefeated Jose Pedraza in 7 rounds. He followed that up with an impressive stoppage win over mandatory challenger Liam Walsh in less than three rounds in his opponent’s backyard. However, he ended the year with a minor setback in losing his world title on the scales and not having the most impressive performance against the undefeated but unheralded Francisco Fonseca.
Because of the minor setback, Davis has decided to make a change heading into his second world title opportunity by heading to West Palm Beach to join veteran trainer Kevin Cunningham and train alongside with former 4 division world champion Adrien Broner.
““I was actually going to go to Colorado to train, but Adrien invited me to come down here to West Palm Beach to check out the camp. He said I should come to Florida to train with him and Kevin. So I came down, I saw Kevin’s routine and I really liked it.
“There were a lot of distractions in Baltimore and I think they were a problem for me. I needed to straighten my head and focus on the things I have to work on. It was time to set my camp somewhere else.
“I needed a change after my last fight. I let myself down. I learned to be a different fighter, more responsible. I let others down, but think I let myself down more than anything,” Davis said.
With the change of scenery and more added discipline, expect a more explosive performance this time around from Tank Davis this Saturday. What the future holds for this exciting young fighter is what’s truly intriguing as rumblings that a falling out with current promoter Floyd Mayweather could perhaps produce a change in representation for the career of Tank Davis in the near future.
Whatever happens, Davis obviously feels he’s the one, the next great American PPV superstar the boxing world is searching for.
““I want to win more belts. I want to become a big star in boxing. I am going to put my work in the gym, put on a great performance in the ring and get back on track to become a world champion again.
“Being a world champion again is just a step closer towards my goal: I want to be a pay-per-view star. I want to be able to fight on pay-per-view against the big fighters and do big numbers,” Davis said.