It has long been a common debate among those who make such a mythical list to compare the best fighters in the game regardless of weight. It’s known as an “eye test,” and many fighters – especially middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin at a time when he was heavily shunned – have benefited from it in the past to gain P4P respect.
The idea is to try to determine the merits of what your eyes are telling you when you see a fighter compete against a certain level of competition, while imagining what that same fighter would do if he were able to to improve the playing field. Given the frequency with which the disorganization and political drawbacks of boxing always prevent the best fights, one has to trust the “eye test” to fill the gaps.
Gervonta “Tank” Davis hadn’t earned the critical respect he’d wanted by the age of 25, despite having proven by the age of 25 that he was both a devastating knockout puncher and a legitimate box office draw Jewel of the Mayweather Promotions Stall.
Can’t you get enough boxing and MMA? Get the latest in the martial arts world from two of the best in the business. Subscribe to Morning Kombat with Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell for the best analysis and detailed news.
Davis (24-0, 23 KOs), who has accumulated world titles at 130 and 135 pounds, hasn’t always been his best lawyer in the field. In addition to consistent weight loss problems (he lost his junior lightweight title on the scales before a showcase bout co-main event for Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor in 2017), Davis was also no stranger to negative headlines multiple brushes with the law.
But in theory, none of that should matter as long as you deliver within the ring, which Davis has consistently done to get the second highest knockout percentage among ranked fighters (behind the united light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev) in the entire sport. All that “Tank” seemed to be missing was proof that he could consistently make it against the competition, which led him to lose the chance to fight Abner Mares in 2019 just days before he was so heartbreaking.
Davis finally had his referendum moment last weekend in his first headlining pay-per-view slot against four-division champion Leo Santa Cruz in San Antonio. Although the cynics could easily point out he was losing weight again to battle a respected champion who previously only made one appearance at 130 pounds, the competitive nature of the first six rounds seemed before Davis got a massive one-punch knockout scored to disappear that.
Davis didn’t just reach his commercial potential by uncorking one of the wildest results of a major fight thanks to the left uppercut that blushed Santa Cruz on round 6 and knocked him unconscious under the ring ropes in the corner. Davis finally showed us from a critical point of view that he can hang.
When you have a long history of knocking out opponents early on, it’s hard to tell the world that you’re just as good at outsmarting elite enemies. But the adjustments Davis made after a hot start in Santa Cruz showed how versatile he is, hitting the body hard and bringing down his opponent’s high guard before delivering the final blow.
Should one big win be enough to crack the P4P top 10 despite some flat performances – including his easy debut against Yuriorkis Gamboa last December – in between? It’s a leap that every P4P voter has to take seriously and do internally to find out. But since Davis had absolutely no problem shedding 130 pounds and putting in such a thorough (if not scary) performance against a man who was no stranger to floating in the P4P’s top 10, Davis made a pretty big statement .
Should “Tank” continue to take advantage of Mayweather’s wisdom and prepare to do his best every time he steps on the ring, how many fighters in and around his weight class can you realistically imagine a continued success against him to have? Davis also has the kind of combat strength within his own divisions that gives him an advantage over almost anyone when performing mythical matchmaking actions, regardless of the weight required to put one fighter above the other.
From that point of view, Davis’s blend of craft and strength knocks a hole in anyone’s P4P objections and shatters the eye test. Davis isn’t just a potential blockbuster star on the verge of really crossing – he’s one of the best boxers in the world when he dials in and is ready.
Sometimes you just have to believe what your eyes are telling you.
Pound for pound leaderboard
Fallen out: Jermall Charlo
Recognitions: Jermall Charlo, Juan Francisco Estrada, Josh Taylor, Jermell Charlo, Jose Ramirez und Gennadiy Golovkin
require.config({"baseUrl":"https://sportsfly.cbsistatic.com/fly-1006/bundles/sportsmediajs/js-build","config":{"version":{"fly/components/accordion":"1.0","fly/components/alert":"1.0","fly/components/base":"1.0","fly/components/carousel":"1.0","fly/components/dropdown":"1.0","fly/components/fixate":"1.0","fly/components/form-validate":"1.0","fly/components/image-gallery":"1.0","fly/components/iframe-messenger":"1.0","fly/components/load-more":"1.0","fly/components/load-more-article":"1.0","fly/components/load-more-scroll":"1.0","fly/components/loading":"1.0","fly/components/modal":"1.0","fly/components/modal-iframe":"1.0","fly/components/network-bar":"1.0","fly/components/poll":"1.0","fly/components/search-player":"1.0","fly/components/social-button":"1.0","fly/components/social-counts":"1.0","fly/components/social-links":"1.0","fly/components/tabs":"1.0","fly/components/video":"1.0","fly/libs/easy-xdm":"2.4.17.1","fly/libs/jquery.cookie":"1.2","fly/libs/jquery.throttle-debounce":"1.1","fly/libs/jquery.widget":"1.9.2","fly/libs/omniture.s-code":"1.0","fly/utils/jquery-mobile-init":"1.0","fly/libs/jquery.mobile":"1.3.2","fly/libs/backbone":"1.0.0","fly/libs/underscore":"1.5.1","fly/libs/jquery.easing":"1.3","fly/managers/ad":"2.0","fly/managers/components":"1.0","fly/managers/cookie":"1.0","fly/managers/debug":"1.0","fly/managers/geo":"1.0","fly/managers/gpt":"4.3","fly/managers/history":"2.0","fly/managers/madison":"1.0","fly/managers/social-authentication":"1.0","fly/utils/data-prefix":"1.0","fly/utils/data-selector":"1.0","fly/utils/function-natives":"1.0","fly/utils/guid":"1.0","fly/utils/log":"1.0","fly/utils/object-helper":"1.0","fly/utils/string-helper":"1.0","fly/utils/string-vars":"1.0","fly/utils/url-helper":"1.0","libs/jshashtable":"2.1","libs/select2":"3.5.1","libs/jsonp":"2.4.0","libs/jquery/mobile":"1.4.5","libs/modernizr.custom":"2.6.2","libs/velocity":"1.2.2","libs/dataTables":"1.10.6","libs/dataTables.fixedColumns":"3.0.4","libs/dataTables.fixedHeader":"2.1.2","libs/dateformat":"1.0.3","libs/waypoints/infinite":"3.1.1","libs/waypoints/inview":"3.1.1","libs/waypoints/jquery.waypoints":"3.1.1","libs/waypoints/sticky":"3.1.1","libs/jquery/dotdotdot":"1.6.1","libs/jquery/flexslider":"2.1","libs/jquery/lazyload":"1.9.3","libs/jquery/maskedinput":"1.3.1","libs/jquery/marquee":"1.3.1","libs/jquery/numberformatter":"1.2.3","libs/jquery/placeholder":"0.2.4","libs/jquery/scrollbar":"0.1.6","libs/jquery/tablesorter":"2.0.5","libs/jquery/touchswipe":"1.6.18","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.core":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.draggable":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.mouse":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.position":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.slider":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.sortable":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.touch-punch":"0.2.3","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.autocomplete":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.accordion":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tabs":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.menu":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.dialog":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.resizable":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.button":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tooltip":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.effects":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.datepicker":"1.11.4"}},"shim":{"liveconnection/managers/connection":{"deps":["liveconnection/libs/sockjs-0.3.4"]},"liveconnection/libs/sockjs-0.3.4":{"exports":"SockJS"},"libs/setValueFromArray":{"exports":"set"},"libs/getValueFromArray":{"exports":"get"},"fly/libs/jquery.mobile-1.3.2":["version!fly/utils/jquery-mobile-init"],"libs/backbone.marionette":{"deps":["jquery","version!fly/libs/underscore","version!fly/libs/backbone"],"exports":"Marionette"},"fly/libs/underscore-1.5.1":{"exports":"_"},"fly/libs/backbone-1.0.0":{"deps":["version!fly/libs/underscore","jquery"],"exports":"Backbone"},"libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tabs-1.11.4":["jquery","version!libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.core","version!fly/libs/jquery.widget"],"libs/jquery/flexslider-2.1":["jquery"],"libs/dataTables.fixedColumns-3.0.4":["jquery","version!libs/dataTables"],"libs/dataTables.fixedHeader-2.1.2":["jquery","version!libs/dataTables"],"https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/app/VideoPlayer/AdobePass-min.js":["https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/util/Utils-min.js"]},"map":{"*":{"adobe-pass":"https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/app/VideoPlayer/AdobePass-min.js","facebook":"https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js","facebook-debug":"https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all/debug.js","google":"https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js","google-platform":"https://apis.google.com/js/client:platform.js","google-csa":"https://www.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js","google-javascript-api":"https://www.google.com/jsapi","google-client-api":"https://apis.google.com/js/api:client.js","gpt":"https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js","newsroom":"https://c2.taboola.com/nr/cbsinteractive-cbssports/newsroom.js","recaptcha":"https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js?onload=loadRecaptcha&render=explicit","recaptcha_ajax":"https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/js/recaptcha_ajax.js","supreme-golf":"https://sgapps-staging.supremegolf.com/search/assets/js/bundle.js","taboola":"https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/cbsinteractive-cbssports/loader.js","twitter":"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js","video-utils":"https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/util/Utils-min.js"}},"waitSeconds":300});
These were the details of the news Boxing pound-for-pound ranking: Gervonta Davis rises after ‘Tank’ smashes eye test... for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at de24.news and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
