Since Gervonta Davis won the IBF super featherweight world title on the January 2017 Showtime Championship Boxing card from the Barclays Center, he has been on a path to becoming one of the sport’s premier young stars and Leonard Ellerbe believes he’ll the biggest star in the sport in the coming years.
Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, the promotional company founded by Floyd Mayweather Jr. that signed Davis, spoke to Fightful on Davis’ development from that world title win to the present day. Davis will be competing for the WBA super featherweight title, his second world title, against Jesus Cuellar on April 21.
“Well he has a whole year under his belt since then and he’s went through quite a bit. I think him going and experiencing these things and then overcoming them are essential for him to grow as a fighter, but more importantly, as a young man. He’s had little adversity and he’s been able to overcome it and he’s really looking forward to what lies ahead and that is a big fight. It starts with winning the WBA world title,” Ellerbe said.
Despite Davis being only 23 years old and him being one of the youngest world champions last year, his development saw him compete on major shows in the United Kingdom and on the co-main event fight of the Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor pay-per-view card. Davis sports one of boxing’s best knockout numbers – 18 of his 19 wins have come by knockout – but Ellerbe said we’ve have yet to see the best of the young fighter.
With Davis scoring impressive knockout wins over the likes of Jose Pedraza and Liam Walsh in 2017, Ellerbe proclaimed that Davis is on his way to becoming the sport’s biggest superstar in a couple of years, echoing Mayweather’s sentiments when he first signed Davis.
“With the development and the great job [trainer] Calvin Ford and his team has done with developing him, and with his God-gifted strength and power, he’s just touching the surface. We really expect major, major things from Gervonta. The world has yet to see the best of Gervonta Davis… [Showtime] sees the same thing that Floyd sees, the same things that I see. When Floyd initially signed him, he knew what he was signing. That’s all he talked about, him being the next superstar in the sport. He’s definitely well on his way. I’ve been very vocal about this and I’ll say over and over and over again. Gervonta Davis, in a couple of years, will be the biggest star in the sport,” Ellerbe said.
Davis vs. Cuellar will open the April 21 Showtime Championship Boxing card from the Barclays Center, where the main event is a 144-pound catchweight bout between Adrien Broner and Jessie Vargas and the co-main event of the card is an interim WBC middleweight title bout between Jermall Charlo and Hugo Centeno Jr.
