LAS VEGAS — Gervonta Davis packed the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday for his first appearance in 14 months and then sparked a frenzy with a brutal knockout.
Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) knocked out Frank Martin with a left hand at 1:29 of the eighth round to successfully defend his WBA lightweight championship. It was Davis' first fight since an equally surprising knockout of Ryan Garcia in April 2023. It was also his first appearance since serving 44 days in a Baltimore detention center last summer for violating the terms of a house arrest stemming from a hit and run-over accident in November 2020 that left four injured.
“Yeah, there's a little rust, but it's okay. I'm back,” Davis said. “After a couple of rounds, I feel like I haven't fully warmed up like I wanted to. I warmed up, but I cooled down as the fight unfolded in front of me. But that's okay. There are no excuses.”
All three judges had Davis ahead 67-66 on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage. In fact, Martin swept the first three rounds, but it was all Davis the rest of the way.
Davis took his time from the beginning as he calmly accompanied Martin, but rarely opened up with his notorious power. However, he began to warm up in the fourth round and his power had a visible effect on Martin. The challenger reacted strongly to several of Davis's feints, prompting laughter from both Davis and the crowd of 13,249 who paid to witness his comeback.
A knockout seemed almost inevitable in the seventh, when Martin continued to give ground and found himself trapped in the corner. Davis maintained constant pressure and picked his spots expertly. He landed good body shots in the fourth round and brought the crowd to its feet in the sixth, seventh and eighth rounds.
Davis got the finish with a left hook and a left straight combination along the ropes. It was a fitting result for what was billed as the 100th championship fight at MGM.
After knocking out Martin, Davis climbed the ropes and performed a backflip in celebration.
“Boom, that's what it was,” Davis said of the left hand that ended the fight. “The brick just finished it off. I've been training since I was 7 and competing since I was 8. You know what I mean? It's like second nature, you know what I mean? It's just about staying focused.” and making sure my mind is on the goal, and that's always coming out on top.”
Martin admitted that his lack of movement in the later rounds led to the knockout, although it didn't seem like he really had the ability to escape Davis' pressure. He moved well away from Davis' dangerous left hand at first, but once Davis began visibly bulking up on him, Martin had no response.
“I felt like I was in control at first, then I got too comfortable,” Martin said. “I got comfortable relaxing against the ropes, trying to find that bigger shot. It wasn't coming. I stopped making my move…He came in and hit a big shot, and it was a shot I didn't take. Look, really, I just I didn't see the shot.”
Davis, of Baltimore, will have options for his next fight, including possible encounters with IBF champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, WBC champion Shakur Stevenson and WBO champion Denys Berinchyk.
