By Ian S Palmer
Original article;https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/gervonta-davis-vs-frank-martin-betting-odds-and-prediction/23798/
Unbeaten prospect Frank Martin of Detroit, Michigan, will be challenging undefeated WBA Lightweight Champion Gervonta Davis of Baltimore, Maryland this Saturday, June 15th. The 12-round fight between the southpaws takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada can be seen live on Amazon Prime pay-per-view. Martin last fought in July when he beat Artem Harutyunyan via a 12-round unanimous decision while Davis last boxed in April of last year when he halted Ryan Garcia in the seventh round after dropping him in the second and seventh stanzas.
The 29-year-old ‘Tank’ Davis was a 2012 National Golden Gloves Champion as an amateur and enters the fight with a perfect mark of 29-0 with 27 Ko’s. He’s fought just 130 rounds since turning pro back in 2013 due to his tremendous punching power and his knockouts over Rolando Romero, Leo Santa Cruz, Ricardo Nunez, Jesus Cuellar, Hugo Ruiz, Jose Pedraza and Liam Walsh were all exceptional. The southpaw has the talent and power to be a long-reigning champion if he manages to behave himself outside of the ring.
Davis currently has a knockout ratio of 93.1 per cent with the only two opponents to take him the distance as a pro being German Meraz when the pair went six rounds in 2014 and Isaac Cruz in December, 2021. However, Davis still managed to drop Meraz in both the third and fifth rounds. Davis stopped Jose Pedraza in the seventh round for the IBF Junior Lightweight (Super Featherweight) Title in January, 2017 and defended it four months later in England when he stopped Liam Walsh in the third round. His first title reign came to an end in August, 2017 against Francesco Fonseca though when he failed to make weight.
However, he still fought and stopped Fonseca in the eighth round. He then won the WBA Junior Lightweight Belt against Jesus Cuellar in April 2018 and defended it against Hugo Ruiz and Ricardo Nunez. He won the vacant WBA Lightweight Belt in December, 2019 when he stopped Yuriorkis Gamboa in the 12th round and defended it against Leo Santa Cruz a year later with a sixth-round stoppage before moving up in weight to stop Mario Barrios for the WBA Super Lightweight Title, which he eventually vacated to move back down to lightweight. Davis stands just over 5-feet-5-inches tall and has a reach of 67.5 inches.
The 29-year-old climbs through the ropes with a perfect mark of 18-0 with 12 Ko’s and has 94 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2017. Before that he enjoyed a fine amateur career which saw him reach the 2016 USA National Championship Final and win the 2016 National Golden Gloves Tournament by beating Vergil Ortiz Jr in the final. He also made it to the Golden Gloves semifinals in 2015.
Martin comes in at 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 68-inch reach which gives him a 2.5-inch height advantage on the champion. He has impressive power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 67 per cent but has gone the distance in three of his last five fights. He’ll be taking a big step up in class as he hasn’t faced the elite of the lightweight division yet as he climbs up the rankings. His biggest wins have been against Artem Harutyunyan, Jerry Perez, Ryan Kielczweski, Romero Duno, Jackson Marinez and Michel Rivera.
Prediction…
Both boxers have power and skill but Davis is a level above Martin at this stage of their careers. Davis sometimes fights to the level of his opponent and often isn’t busy enough to dominate proceedings. However, he’ll usually catch his opponent with a power shot or two and when he does it’s basically lights out. In addition, Davis has definitely faced tougher opposition as a pro. It’s possible that Martin could be energized enough to get off to a good start and win a few rounds and as long as he has a solid chin he could even go the distance. I’m giving the edge to Davis here though due to his power and experience.
