Gervonta Davis knocks out Frank Martin in 8 rounds

Gervonta Davis defeated Frank Martin via chloroform in the eighth round in his fifth defense of the WBA lightweight title.

Gervonta Davis defeat Frank Martin In the eighth round, he retained it for the fifth time World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight title Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

There was no need to go to the judges when Tank Davis closed in with a combination of strikes with a deadly left hand that knocked the elusive Martin out of the fight at 1:29 minutes of the eighth round.

Gervonta “Tank” Davis (30-0, 287 KO) appears unaffected by a 14-month layoff, the longest of his career. He was patient as he practiced the movements of Martin, nicknamed ‘the ghost‘.

This was Davis’ first fight since a stunning knockout of Ryan Garcia in April 2023. Davis, 29, spent 44 days in a Baltimore detention center last summer for violating the terms of his house arrest stemming from a November 2020 crash that left four people injured.

Davis took his time in the early rounds, quietly accompanying Martin but rarely opening up about his notorious power. However, in the fourth round, Davis began to settle down and his power clearly had an impact on Martin, who reacted so strongly to several of Davis’ feints that the champion and the crowd laughed.

6/15 Amazon. Davis KO 8 Martin tank. After getting scared in a round or two, Tank outlasted Martin, landing 54% of his power punches, including 23 of 33 (70%) in Rounds 7 and 8. pic.twitter.com/Ut3BbAfSkQ

— Compu Box (@Compu Box) June 16, 2024

A knockout finish seemed almost inevitable in the seventh, when Martin began to routinely stand up and cover in his corner. Davis kept up the pressure and took his shots expertly, bringing the crowd to their feet with powerful punches in the sixth, seventh and eighth rounds. He finally got the knockout he wanted in the eighth, with a left hook and a straight left combination that left Martin stiff on the canvas. Davis climbed the ropes and performed perfectly backflip (Backflip) at the celebration.

Davis, from Baltimore, will have options for his next fight, including potential meetings with the world champion International Boxing Federation Vasyl Lomachenkohero WBC Shakur Stevenson And a hero Office of Management and Budget Denis Perinczyk.

With the win, Davis will likely improve to No. 2 in the ESPN lightweight rankings and No. 7 in the pound-for-pound rankings.

Information from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was used in this report.