Notebook: Tank Davis not concerned about change of opponent for Dec. 5 fight
U.S. Olympian Johnson pro debut on Crawford-Porter card; Barrera exhibition; NSAC director Bennett retiring; Quick hits
As far as Gervonta “Tank” Davis is concerned it’s no big deal that he has seen the opponent for his upcoming fight change from Rolando “Rolly” Romero to Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz.
Davis was due to defend his secondary lightweight title against Romero, but two weeks ago Romero was dropped from the fight when police in Henderson, Nevada, opened an investigation into a sexual assault allegation made against him.
Lightweight contender Cruz quickly agreed to step in and will challenge Davis on Dec. 5 (Showtime PPV) at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
“I’ve been working hard getting ready for this new opponent,” Davis said on Monday during a video news conference. “I know Cruz is going to come to fight. The fans are going to be the winners in this fight, because we’re both coming in prepared to be at our best. I’m ready to put on a great show on Dec. 5.
“Anything can happen in boxing, so I just try to stay on task. I’m always ready to step up to any challenge thrown my way and get the job done. This is a more interesting fight now, because we both come forward. This is going to be something great for the fans and another exciting night for the sport of boxing. May the best man win.”
Cruz did not hesitate to take the fight after Romero was removed.
“I’m ready to shock the world and become the next star in the pantheon of Mexican boxing champions,” Cruz said. “There were a wide array of feelings when I knew I got this fight, but most of all, it made me really motivated to be ready for this opportunity. We are not overconfident in any way, but Gervonta has not fought anyone with my style and with my characteristics. We’re working really hard to make sure my style will work the best that it can on Dec. 5.
“I can guarantee that I’m hungry and motivated to win this fight. I’m fighting for more than myself. I’m fighting for my family and to make my country proud. I know that if I win this fight, it will change my whole career. The key to defeating Gervonta is for me to want it more. I want that belt in my hand. It’s going to come down to determination.”
Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe made the point that Cruz was already slated to fight on the Davis-Romero undercard, so it was not as though he had to begin training just a couple of weeks ago when he was offered the chance to fight Davis.
“Cruz is coming to fight. He’s not a last-minute replacement. He was already fighting on this card, so he’s going to be ready,” Ellerbe said. “Tank is going to have to be on point for every second of this fight because Cruz puts a lot of mental pressure on you with the way that he fights.”
Davis (25-0, 24 KOs), 26, of southpaw from Baltimore, moved up to junior welterweight for his last fight and knocked out Mario Barrios in the 11th round to win a secondary belt in an exciting fight on June 26. He is returning to lightweight to defend his 135-pound belt for the second time.
“You always have to adapt in boxing no matter what comes your way,” Davis said. “I’m going to adapt to Cruz. I’m figuring out every day how Cruz is thinking and what he’s going to bring to the fight. Cruz has impressed me in his past fights. He comes in there to win. He doesn’t look to just hang in there. He wants to go in and take it. He’s not an opponent I can overlook. A win over him would be big for me.”
Cruz (22-1-1, 15 KOs) 23, of Mexico, has not lost since dropping an eight-rounder in 2016. He has looked particularly good in his last three bouts as he has stepped up his competition level. He knocked out former world title challenger Diego Magdaleno in the first round in brutal fashion last Oct. 31 on the undercard of Davis’ knockout of Leo Santa Cruz, won a unanimous decision over then-undefeated Matias Romero in March and won a lopsided unanimous decision over former junior lightweight titlist Francisco Vargas on June 19.
Cruz is nothing if not confident.
“It’s up to Gervonta to show that he’s a superstar in the ring. I don’t see him as an impossible task to defeat at all,” Cruz said. “I always want to fight the best and Gervonta is one of the best. I’m training really hard so that I’m up to that challenge.”
U.S. Olympian Johnson set for pro debut
Coming off a run to the quarterfinals this past summer at the Tokyo Olympics, welterweight Delante “Tiger” Johnson is ready for his professional debut and it will come on the undercard of one of the biggest fights of the year.
Johnson, 23, of Cleveland, will face Antonius Grable in a four-rounder in a preliminary bout on the undercard of WBO welterweight titlist Terence Crawford’s highly anticipated showdown with former two-time titlist Shawn Porter on Saturday night. Johnson’s fight with Grable (3-1-1, 3 KOs), 29, of Sarasota, Florida, will be part of the ESPN+ stream of preliminaries beginning at 6 p.m. ET; the ESPN+ PPV begins at 9 p.m. ET.
I am covering the Crawford-Porter event for The Ring magazine website at RingTV.com and talked to Johnson about his pro debut, his Olympic experience, his goals and more. Please read that story here: https://www.ringtv.com/630522-olympian-delante-tiger-johnson-ready-to-make-a-statement-in-his-pro-debut/
Barrera in exhibition, not real fight
Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera wanted to clarify something: No, he is not coming out of retirement.
When word came in mid-September that Barrera was going to face his Mexican countryman, good friend and fellow former world titleholder Daniel Ponce De Leon it was labeled as an official boxing match. But the 47-year-old Barrera said that is not the case.
Barrera said that he and Ponce De Leon will not wear head gear but they will wear 16-ounce gloves — far larger than what would be worn in an official fight — and box six two-minute rounds instead of the standard three-minute rounds. Barrera said the weight for the exhibition will be 158 pounds, which is far heavier than either man boxed at during their decorated careers.
The exhibition match will headline a card that is set to take place on Saturday (FITE, 7:30 p.m. ET, $9.99) at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino in Mescalero, New Mexico. The promoter of the card is Teresa Tapia, the widow of three-division world champion and International Boxing Hall of Famer Johnny Tapia, who was a friend of Barrera’s and an opponent Barrera defeated by unanimous decision in a Las Vegas featherweight showdown in 2002.
Barrera said he is going to participate in the exhibition for charitable reasons, not because he has any interest in attempting a serious comeback to the ring.
I spoke to Barrera about the exhibition, whether he would ever come back for a real fight and more for World Boxing News. Please read that story here: https://www.worldboxingnews.net/2021/11/15/marco-antonio-barrera-comeback/amp
Bob Bennett retiring
Bob Bennett, who has been the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission since replacing Keith Kizer in April 2014, is retiring.
According to the agenda for the commission meeting on Wednesday in Las Vegas, where they will also select the officials to work the Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter card on Saturday at Mandalay Bay, Bennett’s retirement is “pending.”
The final agenda item notes, “Discussion regarding the pending retirement of Executive Director Bob Bennett. Discussion to involve succession planning for Director Bennett including the possible recommendation of Chief Assistant, Jeffrey Mullen, to the Governor for appointment to the position, for possible action.”
Bennett got the job, one of the highest profile regulatory positions in combat sports in the world, out of more than 300 applicants following Kizer’s decision to resign. Bennett was approved by the five-person Nevada commission with a unanimous vote.
Bennett, of Las Vegas, who is in his late 60s, is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of all combat sports activity in Nevada, including boxing, mixed martial arts and kickboxing.
Before joining the commission, Bennett was a retired FBI special agent and Marine Corps captain. He had also served as a professional boxing judge for the Nevada commission for about two years.
One of the finalists Bennett beat out was Mullen, the former executive director of the Tennessee commission and now his top assistant.
Quick hits
Johnny “Nicco” Tapia, 16, the youngest son of the late Hall of Famer Johnny Tapia, will make his amateur boxing debut on the undercard of the Marco Antonio Barrera-Daniel Ponce De Leon exhibition that his mother, Teresa Tapia, is promoting on Nov. 20 at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino in Mescalero, New Mexico. “Boxing is a passion,” Nicco said. He is working toward a high school diploma online and said when he gets enough amateur boxing experience he intends to pursue a pro career. “I want to keep pushing myself in the ring and turn pro as soon as I get enough experience,” he said. “I used to go to the gym and run around with my dad every day.”
Per the California State Athletic Commission, here are the official contract purses from Saturday night’s Golden Boy/DAZN card in Anaheim: Jaime Munguia $1.15M, Gabriel Rosado $600k; Alexis Rocha $75k, Jeovanis Barraza $20k; D’Mitrus Ballard $25k, Paul Valenzuela $15k; William Zepeda $20k, John Moralde $20k; Arely Mucino $5k, Jacky Calvo $8k; Alejandro Reyes $2,500, Osmel Mayorga $2k; Jorge Chavez $1,500, Gilberto Aguilar $1,500; Asa Stevens $4k, Felix Vasquez $1,500
Probellum announced it has signed British, Commonwealth and European bantamweight champion Lee McGregor (11-0, 9 KOs), 24, of Scotland, to a promotional contract. He won the European title by fourth-round knockout of Karim Guerfi in the first round in March and made his first defense by fourth-round knockout of Vincent Legrand in August. He is also highly ranked in the various sanctioning bodies. His first fight of the new deal is not yet set.
Heavyweight Tony Yoka (11-0, 9 KOs), 29, who won the 2016 Olympic super heavyweight gold medal for France, was due to return to action on Dec. 17 in his home country for a fight to be streamed on ESPN+ in the United States. However, according to co-promoter Top Rank that event will not take place and Yoka will instead return in January. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum has said he hopes to bring Yoka to the United States to fight in 2022 after the coronavirus pandemic scuttled those plans in 2020 and this year.
Show and tell
Manny Pacquiao had won a flyweight world title in Thailand in 1998 and then came to the United States and, on short notice, knocked out Lehlo Ledwaba to win a junior featherweight title in 2001. But his true coming out party, the fight where he first looked like he might become an all-time great, was when he squared off with then-lineal featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Barrera was in the midst of a tremendous run, having beaten Naseem Hamed, Erik Morales in their rematch, Johnny Tapia and Kevin Kelley when he faced Pacquiao, and got demolished. Pacquiao dominated the fight and stopped Barrera in the 11th round for the first of many huge victories on his way to legend status. That fight was on Nov. 15, 2003 — 18 years ago on Monday. Here is a very rare site poster from the fight as well as a program in my boxing collection.
Davis photo: Esther Lin/Showtime; Barrera-Ponce De Leon photo: Tapia Promotions
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