Floyd Mayweather protegé and IBF Junior Lighweight champion Gervonta "Tank" Davis steamrolled through challenger Liam Walsh today, requiring only 3 rounds to dispatch of his mandatory opponent. Davis, extending his undefeated record to 18 wins, 17 of those coming by way of knockout, used an impressive set of combinations and repeatedly landed his gargantuan left hand, leaving the hometown crowd in London in shock as referee Michael Alexander waved off the fight midway through the third frame.
"Tank" began the fight slower than most expected, feeling out Walsh with an array of jabs but eating a couple soft shots while doing so. He was looking to load up on a few major punches, however was unable to connect with much of anything to get his foe's attention. Walsh (21-1, 14 KO), a heralded prospect out of England, came out with a little more zest in the second round, landing quite a few body shots that stopped Davis front prodding forward. Davis did connect with a combination of two left hands late in the second, however Walsh was able to use good head movement and a stiff jab to hold his own.
The third and eventual final round saw Davis storm from the corner and immediately attack the body of the thinner Walsh. A massive left hook to the chin by Davis less than a minute into the round buckled the knees of Walsh and sent him staggering towards the ropes. "Tank" smelled blood and immediately pounced on his wounded prey. The Englishman did his best to hold on tight, however Davis' barrage of looping, yet accurate, shots rained down and sent the previously undefeated fighter to the canvas. He took a few seconds to rise, however still looked wobbly when the referee allowed the bout to continue. Gervonta immediately jumped into the mix again and landed a flush left hand, followed by one more that left the official little choice but to stop the bout. The crowd seemed upset with the stoppage, naturally, however Davis had Walsh in major trouble and he was only going to get hurt by staying in there longer.
Davis made his first of what looks to be potentially many future defenses of the IBF title he gained by overpowering Jose Pedraza in January. With the backing of one of the all-time greats, as well as an insanely fan-friendly style, Davis will assuredly be headlining his own PPV in the near future.
In the undercard at the Copper Box Arena located in London, Light Heavyweight Anthony Yarde (11-0, 10 KO) absolutely brutalized opponent Chris Hobbs (6-2-1) over 4 rounds to gain the BBBofC Southern Area Light Heavyweight title. Hobbs showed amazing heart to continue raising from the ground, however it was evident early that Yarde was vastly superior in both boxing talent and power. A hard shot dropped Hobbs late in the first, and two more thudding body shots sent him to a knee twice in the third round, the more recent coming just seconds before the final bell. The combatants took the minute to regroup, however Yarde continued his body assault, which could be heard smashing his challenger's body throughout the arena. After going down 3 more times in the 4th, the corner for Hobbs threw in the towel to the fighters dismay, however this fight was in the books long before the towel arrived. Yarde showed immense power and good movement and could be a potential player in the light heavyweight division down the road.
To open the telecast, featherweight Ryan Walsh (22-2-1), brother of headliner Liam Walsh, stopped a game Marco McCullough in the latter stages of the 11th frame. Walsh dominated a majority of the fight, but similar to Hobbs, would just not stay down or go away from pushing ahead. Finally in the 11th, Walsh landed a few flush punches that put an end to the bout and lead him to bigger fights to come in his home country.
