By: Sean Crose
Gervonta Davis is now officially set to fight Mario Barrios on June 26th in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. The bout will be the main event of a Showtime Pay Per View card presented by Premiere Boxing Champions, which represents Davis. Davis was last seen knocking out Leo Santa Cruz with a thunderous uppercut on Halloween night of last year. That bout made the Baltimore native the WBA world super featherweight champion, as well as the WBA world lightweight champion. Now the 24-0 knockout artist (only one of Davis’ fights has gone the distance) will be fighting for the WBA world junior welterweight title when he faces Barrios, the defending champion.
In fact, the 26-0 Barrios was last seen on the undercard of the Davis-Santa Cruz match last October. Like Davis, Barrios impressed that evening, defending his WBA strap by knocking out Ryan Karl in the sixth of a scheduled 12 round affair. Barrios won his title by besting Batyr Akhmedov in September of 2019 via a Unanimous Decision. Davis will unquestionably be the biggest name the 26 Barrios has faced, yet Davis, also 26, will be moving up in weight in order to try to remove Barrios’ title from his possession.
Davis is clearly being groomed to be one of the biggest stars in boxing. He hasn’t reached that level of fighter yet – few do – but the man is unquestionably impressive in the ring. Although this doesn’t stand to be an enormously successful Pay Per View event, there’s little doubt that Davis has fans. It’s clear, then, that Showtime and Premier Boxing Champions are investing in the future by having Davis headline his own Pay Per View card. For, although no one was surprised when Davis bested Santa Cruz last fall, it’s hard to argue that Santa Cruz wasn’t a big name fighter himself we he and Davis squared off.
As for Barrios, this is obviously the opportunity of a lifetime. Few, if any, will likely give the Texan much of a chance of winning, despite a considerable height advantage. Again, the draw here is Davis, not the matchmaking. Still, Davis IS moving up in weight. What’s more, he’s fighting against a qualified opponent who holds a world title and who will unquestionably be in the best condition in his life. Toss in the fact that Barrios will most likely slip in between the ropes with the intention of shocking the world on June 26th, and it becomes clear the world might have a decent fight on its hands.