BoxRec

Sources: Gervonta Davis, Leo Santa Cruz agree to Oct. 24 fight on PPV

Gervonta Davis is primed for his first true test, both in competition and drawing power.

“Tank” and Leo Santa Cruz will fight on Showtime Sports pay-per-view Oct. 24 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., sources tell The Athletic. It was being targeted for Staples Center in Los Angeles, The Athletic reported in March, before the pandemic placed boxing on pause. It will likely be contested at 130 pounds, sources said. Davis’ last fight was at 135 pounds, while Santa Cruz moved to 130 pounds for his most recent outing after a long campaign at 126 pounds.

The bout is one of eight events to be announced in a rollout by Showtime on Wednesday. The network has broadcasted Davis’ last seven performances. Davis and Santa Cruz are advised by PBC creator Al Haymon, leading to a natural pact.

havent made a decision yet, but i know what a good davis can do, but i like leo if he has had a good camp , he will be tough to beat, tough can box can move this could be a great fight,

Can't see this as anything but a Davis TKO personally...don't think Leo has the power or strength to get get Davis' respect

...next time, can Davis fight a legitimate and prime 130 or 135lb fighter...maybe?

Wow, these pbc ppvs are going to tank hard, pun intended. I guess as their promoter it's really the only way for al to show them what they're really worth.

Onetimeonly wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:05 Wow, these pbc ppvs are going to tank hard, pun intended. I guess as their promoter it's really the only way for al to show them what they're really worth.

Which one do you think will do worse? The Charlo double header or Tank vs Santa Cruz?

gilgamesh wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:12

Onetimeonly wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:05 Wow, these pbc ppvs are going to tank hard, pun intended. I guess as their promoter it's really the only way for al to show them what they're really worth.

Which one do you think will do worse? The Charlo double header or Tank vs Santa Cruz?

whats the full card though. i think tank v leo gonna be a good fight,cruz aint no punk davis could easily get caught slipping in this fight

Whatever the ppv of it, some good pbc fights announced

gilgamesh wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:12

Onetimeonly wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:05 Wow, these pbc ppvs are going to tank hard, pun intended. I guess as their promoter it's really the only way for al to show them what they're really worth.

Which one do you think will do worse? The Charlo double header or Tank vs Santa Cruz?

No idea, all 3 of the fights are intriguing. I'm definitely going to stream. Hard to imagine either doing more than 50 or 60k.

I wonder how little big boi will do making 130 again

brilo33 wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:35

gilgamesh wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:12

Onetimeonly wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:05 Wow, these pbc ppvs are going to tank hard, pun intended. I guess as their promoter it's really the only way for al to show them what they're really worth.

Which one do you think will do worse? The Charlo double header or Tank vs Santa Cruz?

whats the full card though. i think tank v leo gonna be a good fight,cruz aint no punk davis could easily get caught slipping in this fight

The thing that could trouble Davis is the fight being at 130. If he struggles to make weight or what have you, and yes Santa Cruz isn't exactly a pushover anyhow.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 16:18

brilo33 wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:35

gilgamesh wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:12

Which one do you think will do worse? The Charlo double header or Tank vs Santa Cruz?

whats the full card though. i think tank v leo gonna be a good fight,cruz aint no punk davis could easily get caught slipping in this fight

The thing that could trouble Davis is the fight being at 130. If he struggles to make weight or what have you, and yes Santa Cruz isn't exactly a pushover anyhow.

true and with the lockdown who knows how disciplined he has been

gilgamesh wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 16:18

brilo33 wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:35

gilgamesh wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:12

Which one do you think will do worse? The Charlo double header or Tank vs Santa Cruz?

whats the full card though. i think tank v leo gonna be a good fight,cruz aint no punk davis could easily get caught slipping in this fight

The thing that could trouble Davis is the fight being at 130. If he struggles to make weight or what have you, and yes Santa Cruz isn't exactly a pushover anyhow.

What could really trouble him is a guy throwing 100 punches a round. Tank is pretty measured, he'll catch Leo but he'll probably be behind if it takes a minute.

Onetimeonly wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 16:27

gilgamesh wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 16:18

brilo33 wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 15:35 whats the full card though. i think tank v leo gonna be a good fight,cruz aint no punk davis could easily get caught slipping in this fight

The thing that could trouble Davis is the fight being at 130. If he struggles to make weight or what have you, and yes Santa Cruz isn't exactly a pushover anyhow.

What could really trouble him is a guy throwing 100 punches a round. Tank is pretty measured, he'll catch Leo but he'll probably be behind if it takes a minute.

davis has looked of the pace more than once in some fights , good fight in the terms davis will have to be switched on all fight , which means we could see a good performance from him

This fight is for 2 WBA world titles , kinda funny

Kind of an odd fight. Is Tank gonna be able to make 130? Won't he have like 10-15 pounds on LSC?

This kind of feels like PBC cashing LSC out and trying to build up Tank as a PPV star at his expense. Speaking of which, are people really gonna spend $75 on this fight?

Leo wins at 130. Tank wins at 135

Now that I think about it

Tank blows weight. WBA says only his 135 title on the line. Lsc gets some extra cash. Tank wins

I’d slightly favour Leo at 130, slightly favor tank at 135.

My guess is they pretend 130 So it’s for a real world title belt then pull a switcharoo cause tanks too heavy to make 130. Just hope they don’t leave that switch till weigh in night. Cause that would be rude as fuk to Leo.

Tank wins either weight

I'm sure if he comes in overweight at 130 something will be arranged to allow it to still happen anyway. They are really eager to push Tank as a ppv star

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑22 Jul 2020, 20:53 Tank wins either weight

I'm sure if he comes in overweight at 130 something will be arranged to allow it to still happen anyway. They are really eager to push Tank as a ppv star

My point of him losing at 130 isn’t assuming makes it there well. I think If he makes 130 it won’t be great, seeing as He is wayyy over right now. Leo’s volume on a weight cut drained tank will be bad for tank unless he lands hard early. Also tank hasn’t been in a real fight in years. (Well, not one that should of been a real fight anyway)

True, although a bit of the same for Leo too, Mares was 2.5 years ago, and that was a guy he'd already beaten and was used to. Chris Avalos was his opponent before that , and the last couple were cake

So I'd say Leo will have had 1 'real' fight in about the last 3.75 years come fight time


Gamboa at least was fast and resilient, Leo's last few have been worse I think

At 130 it's a good fight. I'd be surprised if Tank makes 130 lbs without problems.

Gervonta Davis-Leo Santa Cruz: Their 130-Pound, 135-Pound Titles Will Be At Stake

Gervonta Davis has agreed to move back down to the junior lightweight limit of 130 pounds for his showdown with Leo Santa Cruz.

Yet even though Davis and Santa Cruz contractually are obliged to weigh in at the junior lightweight maximum of 130, Davis’ 135-pound title will be at stake October 24 as well. They’ll fight for Davis’ WBA world lightweight title and Santa Cruz’s WBA “super” super featherweight championship when they square off in a Showtime Pay-Per-View main event tentatively set to take place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Baltimore’s Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) and Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs), of Rosemead, California, agreed to fight for both belts. The situation is highly unusual, however, because Davis’ lightweight title will be on the line in a fight that is contractually capped at the junior lightweight limit.

It isn’t clear whether the WBA will charge Davis and Santa Cruz two sanctioning fees apiece for fighting for versions of its 130-pound and 135-pound titles.

“They’ll both be weighing in at 130, but both the ’30 and ’35 titles will be at stake,” Stephen Espinoza, Showtime’s president of sports and event programming, said during a virtual press conference Wednesday. “We’ve done some research, and the most obvious example is Ray Leonard [and Donny Lalonde]. It’s something that’s done very infrequently, and it’s a bonus for that event.”

Leonard and Lalonde fought for the WBC light heavyweight and super middleweight titles in November 1988, despite that neither fighter weighed in above the super middleweight maximum of 168 pounds. Leonard officially weighed 165 pounds, two pounds lighter than Lalonde, whom Leonard defeated by ninth-round technical knockout at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Davis and Santa Cruz will fight for the 130-pound championship Davis vacated to move up to the lightweight division late last year. Santa Cruz won the then-vacant WBA “super” 130-pound crown when he out-pointed Houston’s Miguel Flores (24-3, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder November 23 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Five weeks later, Davis’ struggles making weight continued, even after moving up from 130 pounds to 135. He initially weighed in at 136¼ pounds for his lightweight debut, but Davis came back to the Georgia Athletic & Entertainment Commission’s scale and officially weighed 134½ pounds for his lightweight debut against Yuriorkis Gamboa on December 28 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

Davis dropped Cuba’s Gamboa (30-3, 18 KOs) three times and stopped him in the 12th round to win the WBA world lightweight title, its secondary crown in that division. Ukraine’s Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs), the WBA’s “super” title-holder, is considered its true lightweight champion.

Two years earlier, Davis gave up his IBF junior lightweight title at the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s scale because he was two pounds overweight for a title defense against Francisco Fonseca in August 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Davis knocked out Fonseca in the eighth round on the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor undercard.

If Davis comes in overweight for the Santa Cruz fight, he’ll have to pay a substantial financial penalty. They then could still fight for Davis’ lightweight title, assuming Santa Cruz would agree to do it.

Espinoza expects Davis to make 130 pounds without incident this time, though.

“Look, he’s motivated here,” Espinoza said regarding Davis’ debut as a pay-per-view headliner. "I don’t think there will be any problems making weight on this one.”

Finally a truly competetive bout for Davis. Actually, it won't be surprising, if Leo wins. Leo has everything to outbox Tank.

No doubt in my mind Tank is gonna pull a Mayweather and come in at 134 saying, "It's for the lightweight title, right?"