At the head of a mammoth card at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Gervonta Davis impressed yet again, defending his WBA lightweight title with a savage eighth round knockout of the previously unbeaten Frank Martin.
Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) came into this one as a pound-for-pound star, but seeking a career-defining fight, although he was coming off a superb seventh round knockout of Ryan Garcia in their meeting last April. Martin (18-1, 12 KOs) had earned his shot at world honours, coming through on points against Artem Harutyunyan last July, but was taking on a tall task here.
Martin boxed well in what was a quiet opener, but Davis then warmed to the task, letting his hands go and letting ’The Ghost’ feel his power.
The 29-year-old did enjoy a solid third, but ’Tank’ yet again showed his power in the fourth, landing some meaty blows towards the end of the frame.
It was a close first half, but Davis started to turn the screw, and he upped the ante with several power shots in the seventh, that preceded the end a round later.
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The Baltimore man caught Martin with a hefty left uppercut, and followed up with a superb left hand that flattened the challenger, and he was unable to make it to his feet.
Benavidez battles past Gvozdyk
On the undercard, David Benavidez made his light heavyweight debut, and took the WBC interim belt with a points win over former WBC champion, Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs).
Scores of 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112 gave Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) a clear victory.
Puello shocks Russell
Alberto Puello sprang a surprise, as he took the interim WBC belt at super lightweight, securing a split decision win against Gary Antuanne Russell.
Puello (23-0, 10 KOs) was docked two points for holding during the bout, and somehow one judge awarded the fight 118-109 to Russell (17-1, 17 KOs), but was overruled by the other two judges, who saw it 115-112 and 114-113.
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Adames retains world title
Carlos Adames made a successful first defence of his WBC middleweight title, as he took a wide points win over Terrell Gausha (24-4-1, 12 KOs).
Adames (24-1, 18 KOs) came through by one score of 119-109, and two at 118-110.
Remaining Undercard
Mark Magsayo (26-2, 17 KOs) took the vacant WBA Intercontinental super featherweight title by outscoring Eduardo Ramirez (28-4-3, 13 KOs), and Kyrone Davis (19-3-1, 6 KOs) upset Elijah Garcia (16-1, 13 KOs) in their middleweight meeting, taking a split decision win over ten rounds.
Daniel Blancas (10-0, 5 KOs) needed less than a round to deal with Aro Schwartz (23-8-1, 15 KOs) at super middleweight, and Justin Viloria (6-0, 4 KOs) stopped Angel Antonio Contreras (15-9-2, 9 KOs) in the fifth of their six rounder at super featherweight.
Margaret Whitmore (3-0, KO0) took a points win against Mia Ellis (7-3, KO6) over four rounds at super featherweight, and debutant Brayan Gonzalez (1-0) scored a knockdown and took all four rounds at super bantamweight against James Mulder (0-2).
Reina Tellez (8-0, 5 KOs) banked a four round points win at featherweight over Beata Dudek (4-2, 4 KOs).
