“Show me that you are great” is exactly what Floyd Mayweather said to Gervonta “Tank” Davis towards the end of Davis’ epic boxing match with Mario Barrios. On Saturday (June 26), Davis used Floyd’s words of encouragement to deliver the final blow to his opponent in an 11-round technical knock out (TKO) victory.
Davis (25-0, 24 KOs) moved up two weight classes to 140 pounds to face Barrios (26-1, 17 KOs) in Saturday’s pay-per-view event inside the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
“I made it tough, I made it tough. I definitely could have made it easier but it is what it is,” Davis said after the match. “I went up two weight classes and I got the job done.”
Barrios appeared to be in control during the early rounds. However, through seven rounds, judges scored the fight 67-66 in favor of Davis. The momentum shifted in round eight when Davis knocked down Barrios with a mean right hook. Moments later, he forced Barrios to the ground again — this time with his left fist.
“It was just adjustments. He is 140 [pounds] and I wanted to catch him with clean shots,” Davis said. “I don’t just want to throw any type of shot. At first I was missing them but eventually I caught up to him.”
Both fighters spent the next few rounds slugging it out, but Barrios clearly appeared to be exhausted. On the side of the ring, cameras caught Floyd coaching his mentee Davis. In between sips of water, Tank peered over at Floyd and seemed to nod in approval.
“I knew [Barrios] was hurt. I just had to catch him at the right time,” Davis said. “Floyd came to me and was honest, he told me I was down…This man set the tone, I’m just following in his footsteps. I’m thankful to be in this position.”
In round 11, Davis sent Barrios to the floor for the third time in the fight with a left uppercut to the body. Barrios would recover but a barrage of punches from Davis along the ropes forced referee Thomas Taylor to end the fight with 2:13 left in the round.
“I have never been a hater, congrats to Tank. He came in here and did his thing,” Barrios said. “This was nothing short of an exciting fight and that’s what we came here to do. I’ll be back.” Davis is now a three-division world champion and remains undefeated.
Check out highlights from the fight below: