from espn.com
Gervonta “Tank” Davis, with the intensity and fury of a young Mike Tyson, bludgeoned Jose Pedraza in a seventh-round knockout to win a junior lightweight world title in an action-packed fight on Saturday night on the Badou Jack-James DeGale undercard.
With Floyd Mayweather, Davis’ promoter, at ringside at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Davis turned in a potentially star-making performance.
“It feels great to win my first belt,” Davis said. “It was a lot of hard work but it means a lot to me that I had a great performance and boxed really well. I appreciate the best boxer in the world backing me, Floyd Mayweather.”
The 22-year-old Davis, who fought his way out of horrible conditions growing up in Baltimore, is going to be a force to be reckoned with if his performance against Pedraza is any indication.
“I had a lot of experience (from the amateur ranks) but I learned how to keep my composure,” Davis said. “Floyd told me to stay calm and I studied Floyd Mayweather (videos) when he was ‘Pretty Boy.’ My uppercut was my best shot and it was landing all night. It felt really good to fight the way I did. I could take it and dish it out. I was backing up a little bit and then I went back to the body — dig, dig, dig.”
Mayweather said he was proud of his protégé.
“I didn’t talk to him at all during training camp because I wanted him to focus and do his best tonight and that’s what he did,” Mayweather said.
Davis had a big opening round, tagging Pedraza almost at will with uppercuts and right hands. He rocked him multiple times and when the round was over he had landed 17 of 33 punches while Pedraza (22-1, 12 KOs), 27, landed only four blows.
Davis (17-0, 16 KOs) continued to find a home for his uppercut in the second round against the taller Pedraza, who had no answers.
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