TOO GOOD
Gervonta Davis blitzes Liam Walsh as he arrives in style
GERVONTA DAVIS is no ordinary champion. That much was clear when he won the IBF super-featherweight, taking out Jose Pedraza in style. He emphasised it when he overwhelmed Liam Walsh in three rounds at the Copperbox in London.
Davis is softly spoken, he has promoter Floyd Mayweather to do the talking for him, but from his debonair, Michael Jackson themed entrance to the way he closed the show, it was clear Gervonta had arrived in Stratford to make a statement.
From the opening bell the American set the pace. He flicked out quick jabs. The speed gave Walsh pause. The Englishman steered clear of him. Liam had started out southpaw, the same stance as Davis. He was however hesitant, pushing out a one-two combination but not catching Davis with anything of substance. Gervonta’s footwork and defence were quality too. He either moved back neatly to take the sting out of Liam’s blows or foiled Walsh’s attacks with a Mayweather-inspired shoulder roll. Determined Walsh drove shots into his body, but at once Davis snuffed out those successes.
Liam had done nothing to shake the Baltimore man’s confidence early on and in the second round Davis began talking to him in the ring. “I was telling him ‘He’s too slow’,” said Davis. “I took my time, I thought he was going to hold up a few rounds. I fed off the crowd.” Walsh had switched to the orthodox stance but it did not change the flow of the fight. It might even have opened him up Davis’ wickedly quick southpaw left.
‘I USED MY BOXING IQ AND WHEN I CONNECTED, I GOT HIM OUT OF THERE’
Gervonta hit Liam with a solid countering jab. He began to catch the Englishman with that backhand left. He struck it in well and then counterpunched again, scooping up a left to catch Walsh from an unexpected angle.
The American was confident enough to continue his running commentary in the third round, while he waited for Walsh to attack, although Liam did not fall for the bait. Davis was seeing openings and his backhand was swift enough to take them. His left shot into Walsh’s body. He landed a punch to the head with the same hand. Liam jabbed forward, but Gervonta ducked beneath a follow-up attack.
Davis began driving in ever harder backhands. He cracked Liam with a massive left hook and hurt him badly. Gervonta went for the finish. In desperate trouble Walsh tried to catch him up in a clinch. But the spite in Davis’ work was clear. He shoved Walsh off him, positioned himself and smashed Liam to the canvas with an overarm left. Walsh was stunned. As referee Michael Alexander took up the count, the Briton just about made it to his feet. He was unsteady even then, his legs shivering beneath him. As soon as he could Davis went back in. An uppercut clubbed through and Gervonta unleashed his quick hands, hammering Walsh into the ropes as the referee Michael Alexander leapt in to stop it at 2-11. Davis sprinted away and sprang up on the cornerpost to celebrate.
Walsh was brave, too brave in fact. He wanted to continue. “That was a bad stoppage,” he contended. “I’m not saying the result would be different but give me a chance. I’d love to fight him again.”
Davis did however have him in real trouble. Michael Alexander’s intervention, in my opinion, was none too soon.
“I think he was hurt pretty bad,” Davis noted. “I used my boxing IQ tonight and picked my shots and when I connected I got him out of there.”
Cromer’s Walsh has not become a bad fighter overnight. He can come back and can challenge for a world title again. It’s just that Davis is a class apart. “It wasn’t as bad as when Amir Khan got knocked out in the first round,” said Walsh’s promoter Frank Warren. “He wasn’t bashed up, was he? He just got caught and that was it.
“He’s a quality figher, he got his tactics wrong. He was doing a lot of feinting; he should have been letting his shots go, but it didn’t happen. He’ll come again.”
He continued, “When guys come over here, have got the crowd against them, you’ve got to jump on them at the start, but they had their tactics, I think, to come good in the second half of the fight. With me in these fights every round should be the last. You go out to win every round, can’t give nothing away.”
Floyd Mayweather, Davis’ promoter, expects Gervonta to go a long way indeed. “He has to be one of the most exciting boxers. He’s not even 100 percent, he can only get better. Now you’re the main event and the main attraction. We have to take our time,” Mayweather said. “We’re not going to rush him. Everything is a process, he’s still young and learning.”
Davis himself promises, “I’m still on the rise. I became a champion super-fast but the best is yet to come.”
THE VERDICT
Gervonta Davis has all the signs of being a special talent. And he’s only 22.