By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten Super World Super Featherweight Champion Gervonta Davis will be taking on Ricardo Nunez of Panama in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland this Saturday, July 27th. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the USA on Showtime while those in Canada can catch the action on TSN 5. Davis won the vacant title by stopping Jesus Cuellar in the third round in April, 208 and then stopped Hugo Ruiz in his first defence in the first round in February. Nunez last fought in April when he stopped Eduardo Pacheco in the first round.
The 24-year-old Davis was a 2012 National Golden Gloves Champion as an amateur and enters the fight with a perfect mark of 21-0 along with 20 Kos. He’s fought just 65 rounds since turning pro back in 2013. However, his performances against Cuellar, Jose Pedraza and Liam Walsh were exceptional and the southpaw has the talent and power to be a long-reigning champion. Of course, the reason for the low number of rounds Davis has boxed is due to his tremendous punching power.
Davis currently has a knockout ratio of 95 per cent as the only opponent to take him the distance as a pro was German Meraz when the pair went six rounds back in 2014. However, Davis still managed to drop him in both the third and fifth rounds. Davis stopped Jose Pedraza in the seventh round for the IBF Title in January of 2017 and then defended it four months later in England when he stopped Liam Walsh in the third round.
Davis’ first title reign came to an end in August, 2017 against Francesco Fonseca though when he failed to make weight. However, he stopped Fonseca in the eighth round. The other opponent you may recognize on his pro boxing resume is likely Cristobal Cruz, who Davis stopped in the third round in October of 2015. Davis stands just over 5-feet-5-inches tall and has a reach of 67.5 inches. He’s obviously got a lot of dynamite in his fists, but his chin hasn’t really been tested as of yet.
Nunez is a 25-year-old who enters the fight with a sparkling record of 21-2 with 19 Kos. He’s obviously got some power as well with a current knockout mark of 83 per cent. However, he doesn’t have a rock-solid chin as he was stopped in the second round by Barnie Arguelles in 2015. His other loss came via a third-round disqualification against Saimon Siris back in 2010 in his second pro fight. Nunez turned pro that year when he was 17 years old. He’ll celebrate his 26th birthday the day after fighting Davis.
Nunez measures 5-feet-6-inches tall with an unlisted reach. This gives him a one-inch height advantage over the champion. The challenger has boxed only 55 rounds in 23 fights since turning pro due to his power and has never gone past eight rounds. However, most fans won’t recognize any of Nunez’s previous opponents as he’s beaten the likes of Elvis Torres, Jeremy Triana, Yogli Herrera, Eric Castro, Addir Sanchez and Joel Cerrud. Nunez has never fought outside of Panama and since turning pro he’s captured the interim WBC Fecarbox, the vacant WBA Fedebol, and the interim WBC Latino Super Featherweight Titles as well as the vacant WBC Latino Silver Lightweight Championship.
Prediction…
Davis should be fighting a better quality of opponent at this stage of his career but it is what it is. At least Nunez has some power do do some damage even though he is taking a huge step up in class. This fight isn’t expected to go the distance and Davis is expected to be the one remaining on his feet when it’s over.
