Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Boxing 130 pound champ Gervonta Davis headlines a potentially fun show this Saturday on Showtime – get details on the fight here.
This Saturday, PBC Boxing is back on Showtime with Gervonta Davis (21-0; 20 KO) vs. Ricardo Nunez (21-2; 19 KO). Davis vs. Nunez takes place this Saturday, July 27 and airs live on Showtime with a fight time of 9:00 p.m. ET.
Gervonta Davis
- Good power – 21 fights, 21 wins, 20 knockouts. That speaks to Davis’s stopping ability, and is a big part of what made him a hyped prospect as he came up the ranks.
- Big fish, small pond? – The WBA champ at 130 pounds, Davis is ranked #2 in the division by Ring Magazine, behind only Miguel Berchelt. Probably worth noting though that it is a somewhat shallow division, with considerably deeper pools both up a division at 135 (current home of Lomachecnko), and down at 126 (home of Leo Santa Cruz).
- Opponent management – In 2017, Davis took on Liam Walsh it what looked like a very good match-up. He took Walsh out in 3 rounds and looked solid. But since then, he’s fought an increasingly safe looking list of opponents. Lots of names you recognize (oh, Jesus Cuellar!), but then when you dig in, they start to look less impressive (oh, Jesus Cuellar who hasn’t won a fight in two and a half years). When will he truly step up consistently? Certainly not here.
- Outside the ring – Davis is developing a bit of a sketchy reputation outside the ring, including two police incidents. Charges were ultimately dropped in one, but it’s not a good look overall for the Mayweather protege. Add in a failed weight cut in the Fonseca fight, plus a few fights where he seemed to get favorable early stoppages, and you get a pretty clear anti-Davis fan base.
- Hometown fight – This fight is in Davis’s hometown of Baltimore, so should have a vocal, pro-Tank crowd making for a fun environment.
Ricardo Nunez
- Welcome to the US – Nunez hails from Panama, and to date has fought all but one fight in his native country. That lone trip out was to Mexico last summer, where he defeated Elvis Torres.
- Quality of opposition – To be frank, there is none. His last opponent was 22-30-3, and came into that fight on a 2-17-1 run. He’s never fought anyone even remotely or vaguely in the ballpark of Davis. At all. But…
- WBA mandatory– The WBA, for reasons only they can fathom, has decided this guy is the mandatory challenge for their champion. Oh, boxing.
- +1600 – Those are the underdog odds here, while Davis is -10,000. Indeed.
What else is on the card?
- Yuriorkis Gamboa (29-2; 17 KO) vs Rocky Martinez (30-3-3; 18 KO) – Fun fight here between two fighters who once were right near the top of their divisions, but are now somewhat faded. Martinez made a successful return to the ring earlier this year after a 3 year layoff, while Gamboa comes in off a win in November. Not much relevance here, but I like this.
- Jezzrel Corrales (23-2(1); 9 KO) vs Ladarius Miller (19-1; 6 KO) – Corrales is a former world champion trying to make a comeback, while the 26 year old Miller does his best to make his name off Corrales. Not a bad fight by any means.
Final Verdict
This is a very “PBC” kind of card. The main event is a wild mismatch that will probably be over very quickly in a highlight reel way. The undercard has the potential for two exciting fights, even if they are not the world’s most relevant fighters. It’s not the best in the world vs. the best in the world, but it should be a fun night of boxing.
Prediction: Gervonta Davis, KO R1