Promoter Leonard Ellerbe predicts a knockout victory for Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis against Frank Martin. Ellerbe says Martin (18-0, 12 KOs) is fighting a guy above his upper level, and he will fall to pieces once he gets in with Tank (29-0, 27 KOs).
Ellerbe got worked up when reminded that Martin’s promoter, Errol Spence, had said that Tank Davis hasn’t been in with anyone like his fighter and that he will get taken apart on Saturday.
Different Leagues: Tank’s Dominance Assured
That’s not how Ellerbe sees it. He’s convinced Martin is not in the same league as Tank, and the world will see that on Saturday night. Ellerbe feels Martin is a good fighter, but he’s just not where Tank Davis is at right now.
Tank will defend his WBA ‘regular’ lightweight title against Martin on PBC on Prime Video Pay-Per-View at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“Errol said something along the lines, ‘Tank ain’t been in there.’ We don’t know that,” said promoter Leonard Ellerbe to Sean Zittel’s YouTube channel about Errol Spence, the promoter for Frank Martin, saying that Tank Davis hasn’t been in with a fighter like Frank.
“Frank Martin ain’t never seen anybody like Tank Davis. They boxed four rounds, I heard,” said Ellerbe about the sparring that Tank did with Martin. “We don’t know if he just got off the plane or what he did the night before. I guarantee that guy was in shape.”
Martin was in with a better boxer than Tank in his last fight, when he beat Artem Harutyunyan in July of last year. That guy is worlds better than Tank Davis in the skills department. What Tank has, obviously, is the power, and that sets him apart.
“What are you going to do in four rounds? I heard there was a lot of wrestling going on. I don’t get caught up in all that because I know when Saturday comes and the lights are on, my guy [Gervonta] is going to be ready,” said Ellerbe.
Outboxing Tank?
“He ain’t going to sit there. He’s going to do a lot of moving,” said Ellerbe about Martin. “He can’t outbox Tank. What is he going to do? Tank can do whatever he wants to do.”
Martin can outbox Tank and build a large early lead in this fight. What’s unclear is whether Martin can hold onto the lead in the second half of the contest when Tank comes on and puts pressure on him with his power shots.
“Martin is really good. It’s just that there are different levels and layers to how good you are,” said Ellerbe. “I have a pretty good idea of what he’s going to do, and that’s why I’m predicting the fight is going to end in a knockout.”
If Tank doesn’t get a knockout in this fight, he could be in trouble becaue Martin can punch, and he’s got an excellent engine. He’ll push a a fast pace, which will wear Tank down and give him problems down the stretch.
We saw Martin do that against Harutyunyan and Michel Rivera in his last two fights, and he looked excellent in both contests.
“The card is going to be electrifying from top to bottom,” said Ellerbe.
