At just 22 years old and already a two-time world champion, Gervonta Davis has experienced a lot in his pro career, but now will get to bring his skillset in front of his hometown fans in Baltimore and wants to give them a night worth remembering for.
It's been roughly 80 years since a world champion defended his title in Baltimore, but Davis is about to end that streak on July 27 when he defends his WBA super featherweight title against Ricardo Nunez. After being brought up by best in Mayweather Promotions, even being christened as Floyd Mayweather's protege, Davis believes he is ready to continue his progression and further establish himself as one of boxing's brightest young stars.
In a recent media conference call, Davis spoke to Fightful about being an entertainer in the ring and feeling any pressure to constantly outdo himself each time out. Davis doesn't feel any pressure in having a career-best performance in every fight, but hopes to simply give people something to enjoy, adding that having a "knockout-or-bust" mentality 24/7 could backfire on a young boxer.
"[There's no pressure] to outdo my last performance, but just to always give the fans a great performance. That's my job when I step in the ring, you know, not just trying to, you know, please the fan - Not just trying to go in there and just look out for - look for a knockout, but trying to get them excited, you know, get them what they pay that money for, you know, so. I came up in an era when I was seeing a lot of fighters and they was fighting, you know, these like ducks coming up in the ranking, and they got a little sloppy in there, trying to knock the guy out and wound up getting clipped. So I really don't, you know, focus on knockout, but if it presents itself and the person don't belong in the ring with me, I definitely capitalize on that and take them out," Davis said.
But even if Davis doesn't wholeheartedly believe that he's going for the knockout each time out, it's hard to not expect one in this one given that he's not only the favorite, but even Nunez said believes the fight won't see a final bell. Though little is known about Nunez because nearly all of his fights took place in his native Panama, Davis expects to face a hard puncher and is not overlooking him ahead of such a big event this weekend.
"I know that he has been training hard. I've seen little clips of him during his sparring sessions. He has great power. I know he's going to be ready to fight. This is a big task in front of him, but also a big task for me. I'm just pushing for a great fight and to please the fans. I know July 27 is going to be an action packed fight," Davis said.
Davis vs. Nunez for the WBA "Super" super featherweight title will headline the July 27 edition of Showtime Championship Boxing from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore. On the card are former world champions Yuriorkis Gamboa and Rocky Martinez facing off in the co-main event.
