♪♪ ♪♪ Lennon:
I-I-It's Showtime! [ Crowd cheering ] Ranallo: It's a big fight
with a big-fight atmosphere! ♪♪ ♪♪ It is beautiful.
It is brutal. It is boxing at its best. ♪♪ What a fight! ♪♪ --<font color="#FFFF00"> Captions by VITAC --</font><font color="#00FFFF">
www.vitac.com</font> Ranallo: 14,129 fans
have congregated here at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, and we are set
for the main event. Gervonta Davis
stepping up to 135 to face Yuriorkis Gamboa,
12 rounds or less. I throw it to the classy
Jimmy Lennon Jr. [ Bell dings ] Lennon Jr.: All right, fans, here we go with the main
event of the evening, 12 rounds of boxing for the vacant WBA Lightweight
Championship of the world. And now, ladies and gentlemen
in attendance, and boxing fans
joining us around the world, live from Atlanta, Georgia... i-i-it's showtime! [ Cheers and applause ] Introducing to you first
on my left, fighting out of the red corner
wearing red trunks, white-and-gold trim,
fighting out of Miami, Florida, by way of Guantanamo, Cuba, he weighed in at 134 1/2 pounds; with a record of 30 wins
and two losses; he has 18 wins
coming by way of knockout. Tonight, making his seventh
world title appearance, here is the WBA number two
ranked lightweight contender. Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome the acclaimed former unified featherweight
champion of the world -- introducing
"El Ciclon de Guantanamo," Yuriorkis Gamboa! [ Bell dings ] And his opponent
across the ring, fighting out
of the blue corner wearing rose gold trunks
with white trim proudly representing his home
of Baltimore, Maryland! [ Cheering and applause ] He weighed in at 134 3/4 pounds. He is undefeated in his
outstanding campaign of the ring with a record of 22 wins,
no losses, 21 big wins
coming by way of knockout. Here is the sensational
young star of boxing, the WBA number one
ranked lightweight contender. Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome the hard hitting, popular and undefeated
two-time champion of the world, introducing
Gervonta "Tank" Davis! [ Bell dings ] And once again,
here's our referee in charge now to give instructions,
Jack Reiss. Reiss: Right here.
Come on, brother. You got it in? -Okay. I can't see it.
-Yes, yes. Reiss: I can't see it. Right here for me.
Right here, brother. Come on. Come on. Come on.
Come on. Right here. Look at me.<i>
Mira.</i> Okay.
Mouthpiece? Mouthpiece?
These [Spanish]. I'm going to let them work
in here, okay? Yours were right on the line..
If they come up, I'm going to let them work
in here if they creep. I gave you both instructions.
I want to remind you: Fight fair. Fight hard.
Fight clean. Listen and obey my commands
at all time. Protect yourself at all times. Good luck to both of you. Ranallo: Jack Reiss, 18 years
a professional referee, working his 766th
professional fight. One of the best referees
in the sport getting set for this 135-pound affair... Scheduled for 12. [ Bell dings ]
Bell and round 1. Undefeated Gervonta "Tank" Davis
in the rose gold with white. Yuriorkis Gamboa
in the red and white. Davis has stopped his
last 13 opponents, has eight first-round knockouts. Gamboa, he's been floored
14 times in his career, eight times in his
last nine fights. Bernstein: The interesting
thing is, in those fights that he's been floored, he's 8-2
which is pretty extraordinary. Malignaggi:
And you think about it, as you get in older
in your career, it's harder to come back
from those knockdowns as you get later on
in your career, so let's see if
he can avoid that tonight. It's hard against a big
puncher like Davis. Davis lands, according to
ShoStats, 50 percent
of his power punches which is everything
other than the jab, which is pretty
extraordinary. Once you hit 50 percent, you're
doing some impressive work. Man: Don't rush.
Take your time. Take your time, baby.
Take your time. Ain't no rush. Mauro mentioned that this is
the first time Gamboa has faced a lefty
since nine fights ago against Crawford
back in 2014. He faced many as
an amateur, but still, it's been
a little while since he was in
against a left hander. Yeah. Gamboa has faced only
four lefties in 32 fights, Al,
and you're right, the last time was against
Bud Crawford, and against Crawford,
the first four rounds, Gamboa did very well, and then Crawford switched to
lefty and made his adjustments and came on in what was
a fantastic fight back in 2014. Davis showing a big... Oh, straight left
by Davis lands, and there's some
punch resistance from Gamboa. Oh! Oh! More punching
distance there. That was a big shot
by Davis. Davis always looking to
close the show in spectacular fashion. As we mentioned at the beginning
of the telecast, knockouts sell, and he is all about
that knockout power. Yes, he talked about
wanting to show off the fact
that he can also box, but Tank Davis knows what
brought him to the dance, Al. Yeah. The good news is that Gamboa took those two
left hands, but the bad news is also that
he took those two left hands. Oh, another left hand. Oh, another counter by Gamboa. And Gamboa, you know, he is
a little computer in his brain. He countered the left hand
that time of Davis, and that's how he got
his own right hand in. The issue is usually
when you counter, you want to slip the shot. The left hand by Davis landed,
and then Gamboa landed his shot. Okay, there's that. Gamboa one of 17
Cuban-born titlists utilizing the craft there. Nice pivot
away from the ropes. Of course, spent some time
on La Finca, the farm in Cuba, so really as... as textbook as they come,
Yuriorkis Gamboa. And already tasting
some of the pop of Gervonta "Tank" Davis here
in the first frame. [ Bell dings ] Time. We will look at the keys
to victory for this fight. Take a deep breath.
Deep breath right there. ...and for Davis,
using a strong jab, which he didn't
quite get to there. He wants to use it
as a weapon but also to set up
the straight left hand. Don't lunge, and once in a while
lunging with his left, and as you see,
Gamboa can counterpunch. The left hand,
he already did land it several times
in round number 1. It is a very
powerful punch. As for Gamboa,
don't square up. Sometimes he squares his body,
makes himself an easy target. Can't do that against
Davis tonight. Combination punching,
can he do this? He's a very good
combination puncher, but as Paulie said earlier, you got to get into position
to do that, and the right hand, which he did land one of,
is his best power punch. Reiss:<i> Uno, dos.</i>
Stay back in the<i> rincon.</i> Man: Hey, Tank. Tank!
Let's go. Number 2 Ranallo: Round number 2, Gamboa entering
the ring with a heavy heart mourning the loss
of Jorge Hernandez, a 1976 Olympic gold medalist and former legendary
Cuban boxing coach who coached Gamboa. Dedicating the fight
to his memory and to his legacy, and Gamboa would love
to dedicate a victory to the memory
of Jorge Hernandez. Davis is a good
body puncher. He lands over 30 percent
of his punches to the body according to ShoStats, and he hasn't gotten
in position yet to do that, but he wants to. Davis been targeting
the head effectively of Gamboa. Again, lands the left. Pops the jab there. Gamboa moving to
his left a lot, which is the right
thing to do to stay away from that
left hand of Davis. Sharp body shot, right hook
to the body by Davis. Gamboa not really
overly active. You know, he's sort of in
a defensive position and probably trying to
set traps for Davis. Yeah. Davis not really biting
on anything, you know? He's been landing his own
share of shots. Now, there was a case of him
kind of lunging in with the left hand
which we talked about in the keys and Gamboa... Double jab and then the left
hand dropping Gamboa... <i> -Tres! Quatro!</i>
-...for the 15th time in his career!<i>
-Cinco! Seis!</i> <i> Siete! Ocho! Esta bien?
Que paso?</i> [Indistinct] Box. Ranallo:
Gervonta "Tank" Davis looking to stop
his 14th consecutive opponent. 21 of his 22 fights
have ended inside the distance, and he dropped Gamboa here
in round number 2. Stop! Nobody punch!
Nobody punch! Usually, the old-time Gamboa
and the younger Gamboa, when you dropped him,
you got to answer. You had to pay
with some -- a fusillade of speed shots, and it usually would
wake up Gamboa, but I don't know
if at 38 years old that's a good thing
that he got dropped just now. Man: Let him go.
[Indistinct] Smothering there
by Gamboa. He might still be feeling
the effects of the shots. Stop! Stop!<i>
Escuchame.</i> Ranallo: And Gamboa seems to be
in a problematic state here trying to hold on. Having issues, it seems,
with his leg, and Davis unloading as Gamboa just trying to hold
on desperately, but it does appear
to be an issue with his right leg,
I believe. Yeah.
Something is wrong with it. Yeah, something with
his knee. And so if getting dropped
wasn't a problem enough... ... Gamboa may now be fighting
on one wheel as Davis lands
a left uppercut to the ribcage. So a terrible round number 2
for Yuriorkis Gamboa. Still showing off
some of his head movement, but it's all Tank Davis. [ Bell dings ] Interpreter: Sit down.
Sit down. Sit down.
Let's see what's happening. I can't walk.
I can't walk! No, I can't.
I can't walk. Ranallo: Wow. Interpreter:
Something on the right feet. I think it's broken. Might be the shoe that's broken. No, I can't go. Let's see.
You heat it up now. You heat it up now. No, we can't take off the shoe. I don't want water.
I don't want water. Where is it? Where?
-It's in the back. It's in the back.
-The back of it. The back of it.
-It's right there. What's wrong with it?
What's wrong? I don't see it. I can't go.
I can't go. There's something wrong
with my leg. Ranallo: Referee Jack Reiss has
called a time-out. Next round, next round.
Everybody out. Everybody out. Get out, please.
Hey. The round is over. Malignaggi: I don't
understand this rule. Hold up. Hold up. Stay back. [ Bell dings ]
Well, round 3 officially begins, Gamboa complaining about
an issue with his right shoe, his ankle,
but the fight continues. I think he's saying his shoe,
but what's weird... I don't know. What's weird is it's...
I don't know. I don't even know what the rule
is to be honest. If your glove is broken, we saw
in the Ali-versus-Cooper fight, they have to replace the glove,
right, but... Stop! Stop! ...the shoe, I guess you just
go on if it's broken. Stop! Stop! Stop! I've never seen this in my life. I don't even know
what the rule is. It's hard to tell if he was talking
about an injury. Man, he's having issues
with it, though. He can't find his footing
on that back foot. It's almost buckling repeatedly. If it is the actual shoe,
they should be able to figure out a way to move forward
with different equipment. I don't know. Yeah, but you got to be
allowed time by the ref. Right, exactly. But I don't know the rule. We know, with the glove,
they will give you time, like I said,
all the way back to Cooper versus Ali
or Cassius Clay at the time, but I've never seen a shoe
malfunction to this degree. No. Oh, there's a counter right hand
and a left by Gamboa getting the attention
of Davis momentarily, Davis seeking to attack
the body and Gamboa forced to fight
on that back foot, that is... ...in some kind of distress, even the way
he's setting it up, Paulie. Look at the shoe. His foot is coming out
the side of it. Is he wearing... Remember what happened
to Zion Williamson at Duke when the shoe broke. Look at the back shoe. Look at the bottom
of his shoe. That's crazy. It's coming out.
It's coming out. The foot is coming out
of the shoe, but it's not broken,
but you can see the foot, like, pressing up
against the side of the shoe. Wow, I've never seen this
in my life. I don't even know
what to say. Could cause an injury
slipping there. Not to mention going
to cause your footing... You can't defend
yourself well. You can't sit on your... Not to mention he's facing
Gervonta "Tank" Davis. Yeah, you can't sit
on your shot. You can't sit on your shots
the way you need to. Just when you think you've
seen the last thing you could see in boxing,
something happens... He's not injured, I don't think,
because he's... No. ...he would be grimacing. He's not grimacing. This is literally
the shoe. I agree. Under a minute left here
in round 3. Gamboa was dropped... in minute 15 into round 2, and then experiencing
some issues with his shoe and now Davis
on the attack. He landed. Gamboa landed a counter
left hook a moment ago that kind of just at
least temporarily halted the assault
by Davis. 30 seconds remaining
in the third round, very measured,
focused, Gervonta Davis, jab was blocked by Gamboa. Gamboa looking to escape
the corner, being corralled by Davis, attacking with the left
of the body, clubbing right hand
by Gamboa as a counter. Stop!
Everybody stop! Separate and start with the bell
and stop with the bell. [ Bell dings ] We'll go back and look
at the knockdown, and this will be courtesy of
a straight left hand by Davis. We're wondering if maybe this is where the shoe malfunction
happened, and he right away
starts to look down, and we see him walking in
kind of a strange fashion if, in fact, it is the shoe
and not an injury. He's flexing his knee there
as well, so it's hard to tell. Let's see if we can get a shot
of the bottom of his shoe. Actually, you can see... And here is where
the knockdown happens with the straight left hand,
and he will go down. There's nothing that odd
about the way he went down, but immediately he looks down
at his right foot. Hey, number 4. -So...
-Number four. -Gamboa's corner...
-Hold up. Hold up. Hold up. ...talking about wanting
to wrap up the shoe. Let's go! Come on, man. And Jack Reiss trying
to maintain order, an interesting start
to this lightweight affair between Davis and Gamboa. Malignaggi: I imagine you train with these shoes
before you put them on. I don't know.
Even when I would buy new shoes, and I'd use a lot of new shoes
when I'd fight... Yeah. ...I'd always make sure I wore them the week
of the fight in training just so my feet would get
used to the new shoes. Well, we know these two
fighters are explosive. We didn't know the shoe
would be explosive as well tonight, Paulie. So weird. Yeah. I'm totally
confused myself. It would be normal standard
obviously to use the shoe and... Yeah. But of course something
could've happened to the shoe
in the knockdown. Well, it's conjecture at
this point obviously, but in any case,
he fights on, and we'll see if he can fight
through the adversity of that. Oh, counter left hand,
lands for Davis, pops the jab, the southpaw, Davis,
again walking down Gamboa. Gamboa is moving to his
right more and more, which is not a good idea
because he's putting him right in range
for that left hand again. The problem is,
to move to your left, you have to push off
the right foot. Yeah, correct.
You're correct. Gamboa trying to land
on Davis' body, Gamboa trying to find
solid footing somehow, launches a right-hand
block by Davis. And in the midst of all this,
Gervonta Davis has not been super active
in terms of volume of punches, which is intriguing. And you would think
he must be aware that there's
some difficulty. This would be the time
to pounce on Gamboa. And then Gamboa is being...
Oh, good body shot, good body shot by Davis, right to the gut,
solar plexus. And there's a left hand
by Davis! Come back with a right
by Gamboa. Final 60 seconds here in the fourth round, methodical Gervonta "Tank" Davis avoids the right,
counters the left. And Gamboa continues to go
like how you mentioned, the wrong way, in terms of into
the power alley of Tank Davis. There was a clash
of heads there. Oh, straight left by Davis. Davis very enthusiastic
with his power. If Gamboa does not at least
start to counter some of those misses, it's only a matter of time
before he takes another big shot because you've got
to take away the enthusiasm of
a power puncher like Davis, and in order to do that,
you've got to create doubt by counterpunching
when he misses. Davis has two,
make that three, of his knockouts
coming past the fifth round, so here we come up
on the end of round 4. Davis has recorded one
knockdown but Gamboa... Stop at the bell. ...continuing with the, well,
some kind of malfunction. That's for sure. You got to move out of the round
a little quicker. You got to get out
a little quicker. Interpreter: Sit down.
Sit down. They'll take care of it.
They'll take care of it. You have the capacity
to beat him. Come on.
You're okay! Let's go! Keep nice and close
and then throw it. Throw it. You need to block on top. You keep blocking him, and then
you make sure you block it. He only has the left. That's all he has. When he comes with that right,
you got to pass it through, and then you throw. Get closer. Get closer.
Watch out for the right. Bernstein: That was
Stacy McKinley down there doing whatever repair job
he could on the shoe. Let's see.
They got it full of tape now. Stacy McKinley has been
in boxing for probably about
40 years. Amazing. Ranallo: Let's go to Jim Gray,
who spoke to the Gamboa corner. Gray: I spoke to Stacy McKinley,
and he believes it's the shoe, and they've been trying
to re-tape it. It took him three rounds
to tape this ankle up. Had this been an NBA game,
they would've had him out, and this would've been done
in 20 seconds. Why nobody had any tape
over there or didn't address it for three
rounds is really quite an issue, but they say it's a shoe and a wardrobe-malfunction issue
at this moment. Ranallo: Gervonta Davis just
popped Gamboa with the left
and another left hand. The interesting
thing that... You know,
Gamboa has survived, and he's been
a little more offensive in the last
round and a half. It's not much more
but a little. Minute gone
here in the fifth, and Davis continues
to come forward, short left uppercut
on the inside, another left uppercut, but the punch resistance
is there for Gamboa, oh, and that
left-hand jab to jaw -- and Gamboa continues
to come forward! Remember Davis moving up
in weight to 135 pounds! But Gamboa also an ex-super
featherweight. So Gamboa makes
the same moves he did when he was younger
in terms of trying to slip, but the problem is your reflexes
are not as sharp, so you want to have
better fundamentals. Gamboa was always the guy with
the hands low at close range, and that's why he would
get dropped at times, but his reflexes were much
faster when he was younger. Now he's risking a lot
at this age to try to use those
same reflexes with the hands in bad position
at that range. As Davis bringing his potent
power to 135 continues to unload on Gamboa,
Gamboa backing up, hits the ropes,
another left hand, Davis but Gamboa holding on now! And that's his best move
at this juncture to try and work his way through this
round with a minute left to go. Another left lands
for Davis and the right, Gamboa just having difficulty
with his balance, oh, and gets jacked on the jaw
again but eats the punch! I'll tell you, for a guy
who's had chin issues... Wow. ...he's taking some good shots
from Gervonta Davis. That's for sure. And again, not to belabor
the point, but that move north by five
pounds, that affected the power. Yeah, but Gamboa is still
an ex-super featherweight and an ex-featherweight,
so he himself is not a guy who's as natural
of a lightweight as some of
the other lightweights. Yeah, true. He is weathering
these huge punches so far. Even Davis is
looking at him like he can't believe
he's still standing. Well, we are through
5 here in Atlanta. [ Bell dings ]
Time. This is an experience
for Davis too because he's got a guy now who's a little bit
more resistant to his power. Interpreter: Let's go.
Now he tasted yours. He tasted your punch now. Now you got to start going. Now you're starting
to get your boxing going. Now you're getting back
into the style. You need that upper hand, nice and tight, nice and tight. Davis landed some enormous
power punches. He gets hit
with that left hand but lands this terrific
left of his own, and of course, his big power
is mostly in the left hand, and then he lands
a right hook as well. Later around... Wow. ...the uppercut comes
from the inside. Davis has a good variety
of punches. Amazingly, Gamboa is able
to get through it. Has Gamboa has had
a chin transplant? Well, he's been... Amazing. But it's incredible... I mean,
those replays show... Yeah. ...how clean he was hit. Again, Davis probably needs to
punch in a bit more combination. He's loading up single shots,
and maybe it's the combination that will get Gamboa
out of there eventually. He's taking the single shots
pretty well. I mean, I would say he's
still feeling them, but the fact
that they're in single and not in multiple fashion
allows Gamboa to be able to take it
and maybe possibly recover. Great points, Paulie, as we are
here in round number 6, scheduled for 12,
135-pound main event, jab by Davis... But very methodical
for two guys who have been known to be faster
than caffeinated hummingbirds, Al, a rather slow pace. Yeah, to some degree,
we haven't seen combination punching really that
much from either man yet. Gamboa, of course, as we've
pointed out in the past, has been able to
punch in combination. We weren't sure that would
happen in this fight in any case because of who
he was facing. Gamboa may be looking
to change it up, finally sneaks a jab
to the body of Davis, utilizing a lot of feinting, a lot of movement and Davis
looking to establish the jab, walking down Gamboa
and moving to his left, and Davis lands a jab
to the torso. You know, Gamboa's movement
looks a little better, so whatever they... Stop. Stop. Stop. ...did to the shoe may have
helped him a little bit. Yeah, the problem is he still
looks like an older fighter who is a shell of himself. You know, he can't find
his range, can't get his hands off,
fighting like an older guy with veteran skills
with veteran experience in terms of trying to figure out
a way to stay and fight, and maybe an answer will come
his way if he's in the fight. Yeah, Gamboa telling us
that a huge edge in experience of the quality of opponents
he faced will serve him well, but it's a double-edged
sword, right, when you have
so much experience. The problem, and trust me,
I've been here, at this age is you know how
to stay in the fight sort of in terms of trying to survive
and to figure out, but you don't have
the wherewithal, the youth, the explosiveness to create
the openings yourself. You sort of try to stay
in there, hoping that something
creates on its own. Davis landed a left. What has presented itself
in this round is there have been
a couple nice left hooks that Gamboa has landed, and then he tried
to land more left hooks. If there's going to be a punch
that's going to get him back
into this fight, I think it's going to be
the left hook because he's found
a place for it. The question is whether
he can hurt Davis with it. Half a minute remaining
in the sixth, very cautious as Davis lands
that right hand over the top. The problem with Davis too,
he's looking for one big shot. You know what I'm saying?
That's another one. He's got to look for, like I said earlier,
some combination shots. Oh, wow. He's going. He's putting some good shots
to the body. Mustard to the body there
for sure with that left hand. And that's been happening
for quite a few rounds. Stop. Stop.
Break. Break. He seems to be looking
for one shot at a time, and his output is not maybe
as much as it could be. Second half of the fight
straight ahead. [ Bell dings ] ♪♪ We see him
jabbing to the body and coming with that
straight left hand on top. The thing about Davis is
he's creative in what he does, and we talked about
there haven't been a million combinations, but there is a beautiful one
with the jab downstairs, and then he comes
with the left hand over, so he is creative when he can do
those kinds of things. Work, man, because when you make
him work, then touch the body. Bring it to him?
No, no, no, no, listen. Keep inching toward him.
Make him open up. Hear?
And make him work. When you get close, he can't
fucking fight in the inside. Trust me.
How long you been trusting me? Get close to him
and just keep poking. When I say, "Penitentiary,"
put that knife there and put it in him, okay? Put them together. -To the body?
-Yeah, go to the body, but remember protect
the wild shots up here, hear? But do it off the jab, hear? Just keep going to him, man. Reiss: Number 7. Ranallo: Calvin Ford has done so much incredible work with the youth of Baltimore --
has been there for Gervonta "Tank" Davis throughout
his career and some wise words for Davis
from Calvin Ford, Al. Yeah, colorfully put,
digging in the knife. Yeah, he wants him, Davis,
to work the body as we begin the seventh round of the second
half of this 135-pound affair, Gervonta Davis in the rose gold
with white trunks, Yuriorkis Gamboa
in the red and white. You know, Davis said, "I don't
want to just overpower Gamboa. I want to hit him with shots
he doesn't expect," and in a way,
that's code for him saying, "I want to show my skill
set in this fight." Unofficial score,
Steve Farhood, how do you have it
at the midpoint of this fight? Farhood: Mo, I don't think I'm going to surprise you
with my card. It's a shut-out
with a 10-8 round in round 2. All I can say is Gamboa,
his shoes made a comeback. I don't know if he can. Ranallo: Well said. Gamboa, former Unified champion
at 126 pounds, Olympic gold medalist, Davis held the title
at 130 pounds, in fact, the youngest reigning
American belt holder in 2017 when he delivered
that star-making performance here on Showtime,
taking out José Pedraza -- as the action picks up here
in the seventh, an exchange, and there is Gamboa
on the inside. Gamboa is
trying to punch back and threw a couple
combinations here. He just didn't
land anything, and he's mostly
throwing arm punches. He's not getting
really leverage into it. Davis won his first title
when he was 22, lost it on the scale
before his second defense against Francisco Fonseca, became a two-time title holder
in April of last year, knocking out Jesús Cuellar
in the third round, made two title defenses
before vacating to move up
to 135 pounds. Final 60 seconds
of the seventh and... Gamboa getting some
good shots in there. Yeah.
Gamboa's may... This has been by far
his best round of the fight. And he's forcing Davis to start
respecting him a little bit. Oh, got in the inside there
by Gamboa, and Gamboa has Davis
along the ropes. It's been the best round Gamboa
has had in this fight. Whether he's winning it
remains to be seen, but he certainly
has done better, and he has thrown many more
punches in this round than Davis. Davis very economical
in his output. [ Audience shouting ] He almost had a takedown. Well... Hearkening back to... Worlds clash,
worlds colliding. [ Indistinct chatter ] It's been a kind of
interesting round. Gamboa has thrown 57 punches
to 13 for Davis, but Davis has landed
half his punches, but if according to ShoStats,
Gamboa has done a bit more. I'll tell you what,
Gamboa is forcing Davis to respect him
a little bit. He can't just
go for the gusto like he was trying
to earlier in the fight. It seems like Gamboa has
landed a couple of shots that I wouldn't say
hurt Davis at all, but at least the fact
that he can be hit has gotten his attention. And we'll look back at a few
of the moments that Gamboa had. There's the hook.
I talked about that punch being potentially something
that could land. Here he lands the nice
right hand and comes... And then
later in the round, we would see some more life
from Gamboa, using the jab
and then, again, getting... halfway getting left-handed,
and the right lands pretty well, and then the jab follows it. So... And then Gamboa
would look for what looked a little bit
like a takedown but the... Well, Davis pushing
his head down. But the defensive
abilities... Nice, yeah,
takedown defense... Yeah, exactly. ...almost a sprawl. Oh, it was because Davis
pushed his head down, so it was more of
a retaliation. Davis has... Spearing in, I guess. ...done some stuff on social
media with MMA fighters as, you know,
all of these people, boxing to MMA to wrestling
to MMA to boxing. Hey, we've got Tank Davis
and Yuriorkis Gamboa here in round number 8, and we know that Davis
punch output well below both 130-pound and 130-pound
average weigh-in tonight, Al, throwing a total of 189
punches up to this point. Yeah. Now, okay,
for whatever it's worth, Davis has never been
past nine rounds in a fight. Gamboa is 4-0
in 12-round fights. But Davis threw, what,
15 punches last round? I agree. He's not setting
a torrid pace, but I'm just saying
he hasn't been there before, and we're in round 8, and Gamboa
is certainly more emboldened, which we see there. Like that use of the word
of the day there, by the way,
"emboldened," love it. Right hand
lands for Gamboa. What's happening here
with Davis, Paulie? I'm very curious about why he's giving Gamboa
so much respect, and I'm going to go a little
bit out of the way here. He showed up all the way
yesterday for the weigh-in first. He's looking like
a tired fighter even though the pace of
this fight has not been torrid. I don't want to say
I'm questioning the way he trained for this fight,
but I have to say it's on my mind a little bit now
because he's got an old guy who is dying to get out
of the fight early in the fight or at least asking him
to basically do him a favor and get him out of there,
and he couldn't do it because his output
was never enough. And in this round... And now Gamboa has gotten enough confidence
to get into the fight. Guess how many punches Davis
has thrown in this round. How many? One. 25 years of age,
enjoying the trappings of... We're halfway through it. ...fame, celebrity, but Davis' offense muted. Gamboa, after being down
in round number 2 and having issues
with his right shoe, is still in this fight. This has been an oddly
intriguing match in certain ways. Not the explosive affair
that we are used to seeing from Tank Davis albeit against
lesser opposition Gamboa. The more experienced
was supposed to be one of the tough tests despite
the fact that he is now 38, but we saw Davis against,
you know, José Pedraza, which was
a fantastic performance. And certainly the fireworks
were there early for Davis. And no fireworks
in this round at all. No. Look at the punches on the card. We're, you know, 30 seconds
left in this round. But you can make the case
for Gamboa winning this round, and you can make the case
for him winning the last one. Oh, there's a step in right hand
by Tank Davis, left uppercut, but Gamboa coming
back with a left, Gamboa and Davis now
in the final 15 seconds, and Davis lands a left hand,
dropping Gamboa again! ...four,<i> cinco,
seis, siete, ocho --</i> [ Speaking Spanish ] Get back in the corner! [ Bell ringing ]
Davis bringing the crowd in Atlanta to its feet with the
second knockdown of the fight! Davis might have cost himself
a shot at ending the fight
by not staying in the corner. Sit down. Sit down. Let's see. Recollect now.
Let's go. Collect yourself. You still have to be
nice and tight. You were hitting him.
You were getting him. Bernstein: Well, a very slow
round to this point, and then Tank Davis
showed his power and hurt Gamboa with that left hand,
knocked him down. Credit to Davis, Gamboa was
trying to smother him, but Davis took a little half
step back to create the space if we're going to try
and see it again. Let's see. You see Gamboa
trying to smother. See, he's reaching out.
He's trying to smother. He's trying to hold. Look at the credit for Davis,
a half step back, creating space so he can get leverage
on that left hand. Interesting. And that's the subtle things
that cause that knockdown... Yeah. ...besides the obvious
power Davis has. And the interesting thing
is Gamboa landed an uppercut in the midst of all that. It wasn't enough
to hurt Davis. That's the uppercut
that landed, and then Davis would come
with this straight left... Well, mostly
a straight left hand, but it was a big powerful
left hand. Seven of the 11 punches
Davis landed came in the last minute of that
round according to ShoStats. [ Whistle blows ] Man:<i> Nueve, nueve!</i> Ranallo: Ninth round! Gamboa has been down twice! There's a jab that lands
for Tank Davis, the southpaw, again, pops a jab, counter
right by Gamboa, Gamboa now going to the body and, oh, a rabbit punch
delivered by Gamboa! Are you good? I think Gamboa just wants
to let Davis know he's still in the fight. Ranallo:
Sharp jab from Davis. Bernstein: Davis mixing in
the right hooks, Davis has a pretty good right
hook, and there it is. Two-and-a-half-inch reach
advantage for Tank Davis. Davis starting to step in with
some extra authority here. He senses the end. Davis bears a straight left
and Davis' body language speaking volumes, hunting down,
locking down Gamboa, Gamboa trying
to avoid the attack, utilizing some bobbing
and weaving now, just trying to close the gap, oh, counter left again
by Davis! That left hand is about as sharp
as we expected it to be! Gamboa showing a lot
of power here. Oh, my God, yeah. And all he's got
is his heart left. I mean, he's a guy
who's a shell of himself. Olympic gold medalist
champion at 126 pounds. It's almost a shame
to watch. With Davis as such a young
phenom and Gamboa in his prime, this would've been
a terrific fight. Oh, yeah, exactly. Wouldn't we like to have seen
the 2014 version of Gamboa? Here he is trying to stay
in the fight but Davis again unloading
and there Gamboa tackling Davis. And that's all
the veteran stuff, all the survival tactics
of a veteran. Hey, you okay?
You good? Ranallo: Under a minute left
here in the ninth. Davis with his mouth open,
by the way, he's tired just from throwing
all the power shots. Yeah, it's a very good point
but Gamboa, probably not enough
left in the tank to take advantage of that. Yeah, you know,
Gamboa makes him miss and looks to hold instead of
makes him miss and counter. It's all survival instinct
instead of the killer instinct. 30 seconds left
in the ninth round. Davis not used to going
this deep into a fight, Al. No, this is...
We're at the point where he's never been,
but obviously he's in control of this match
right now, clearly. Matter of fact, the longest
he'd been before tonight was the last time
he had trouble on the scale, right, with Fonseca. Fonseca, that's right. And he had to go
into the eighth round. Ended it in the eighth, but here
we are headed to the 10th. You're looking good.
Give him a deep breath, Calvin. That's why we're
holding him up. [ Indistinct ] Huh? [ Chatter ] Take a deep breath.
Take breaths. Take breaths.
Give me three deep breaths. Give me three deep breaths. Hey, Tank. Get back on your jab
and collect yourself. -Yeah.
-All right? Don't worry about
knocking him out. When you set it up,
a lot of feints off the jab, when you see it, take it. But don't go in there
looking for it too hard. Right. He's still dangerous. You're throwing the right shots,
Tank, but don't throw... DeJesus: You're a champion. Now you've got to hit him
with the left hook in the body. Keep moving. Keep moving, and then
that left hook to the body. You hearing me?
Let's go. Ranallo: Set for round 10,
Gervonta Davis, moving up to 135 pounds. Had issues at the weigh-in... Wondering how much the weight
cut impacted him, Al, as we get set
for round number 10, a little concern in the corner. Yeah, that's a very
interesting point. You know, Roque telling Gamboa,
try to go to the body. That's actually
exceptional advice if he can get close enough
to just try it. There's no reason not to because you'd think maybe
you're in against a fighter who looks a little tired... Tired, yep. ...and can we hurt
into the body? Might as well. How do you interpret
what you're seeing form Davis in regards to the body language
and the weight cut, Paulie? I already told you how I interpret it
a couple of rounds ago. You know, I mean, this is
a new weight class for Davis. The fact that he had trouble
making the weight makes you question
how he trained for the fight. And to double down
on that statement, the fact that he was tired,
throwing 15 punches a round, you know, also makes
you question the same thing. It makes you double down
on that belief. So, you know, early in the fight
Gamboa was almost out of there. He just needed
a bit more energy. No combination
punching from Davis, looking for
one shot at a time, and he actually allowed Gamboa
to pick up some confidence for a few rounds
to survive a little longer. Now, he's got him
on the edge again. We'll see. He almost had him out,
and he punched himself out again because, again, I don't know
what kind of shape he's in. So now here we are, again,
round 10, and they're kind of standing
in front of each other. Gamboa, and as we mentioned
before, never been past round 9, and, Al, Gamboa
has many times. Yeah, you know, Gamboa, you can
tell he's in a position where he's trying to get
those punches off. He just doesn't quite have
what it takes to do that. You know, you can tell
the hesitation in throwing the right hand. Yeah. He can't close the gap
the right way. I mean,
even with a fixed foot, he falls in
when he throws a right hand. He's always falling in
with his shots because he doesn't have
the legs on him. Oh! There is a three-punch
combination that lands for Gamboa, and that captured
Davis' attention. He doesn't have to close
the gap right there. He was already inside. He's getting to be a little
bit dangerous when he's not holding
and wrestling. Under a minute left here
in the tenth round. There's life left in Gamboa. Davis targeting the midsection
with that left hand. Davis has thrown 15 punches
to 16 punches this round, and, of course,
there he's landing here at... I'm just going... I'm going
to tell you he's fortunate he's in the tenth
round at this pace because if he had a live guy in
front of him coming like this, he'd be in serious risk
of losing this fight. I mean, he's in the tenth round
at 15 to 20 punches a round because he's got a guy
who came into the fight already a shell of himself
to begin with, and he's
better than this. I say this because Davis
is better than this. If Davis shows up in shape
and Davis shows up, the Davis that we
all know and love, it's a different kind of fight. There's a couple of left hands
by Davis jumping in as we head
to the eleventh round. Davis landing that left jab. [ Bell dings ]
Gamboa ate it. Right here. Talk to him, pal. Let him catch his breath first. Think, man.
Think. Control your breathing, baby. Control it. Control it.
Take deep breaths. You know what to do.
Take three deep breaths. Okay now... Bernstein: Here is,
in the last round... Who's he looking at here?
It seems like he was distracted. I don't know, and that left
hand lands, then the right. He made the same mistake -- Wow. He made the same mistake
Ricardo Nunez made last fight
against him, oddly enough. He's looking outside
in the clinch. He's looking outside. Like, Ricardo Nunez was doing
this against Gervonta in July and got himself
knocked out for it. Got just an odd... Man. This fight has been odd
in many ways. That was the fight
in microcosm. That was a pressured Gamboa. Good straight left hand
by Davis. Of course, he's been landing
those, in fact, two of them, and a counter from Gamboa. This is round number 11, scheduled for 12 at 135 pounds, and interesting to say
the least, of what we've witnessed
here tonight. 1:15 into round 2, Gamboa hit
the canvas from a straight left to the side of the head. 15 seconds left in round 8, Gamboa fell to the canvas again
from a left hand. You can tell by the way
Calvin Ford is talking to Davis
in the corner about his breathing
and everything. He's concerned about his fighter's stamina
at this junction. The condition... But our unofficial scorer,
Steve Farhood, still has the undefeated
"Tank" Davis comfortably ahead. I think that's
without question. Right,
as you would expect. But I think, again,
it's more because Gamboa has been trying
to survive from the start and not ever trying
to win the fight. He's fighting
like an older guy. How is "Tank" Davis fighting,
Paulie? I mean,
he's trying to... He's looking for the knockout
the whole time, but, you know, in order
to make adjustments, you also have to be clearheaded
enough to be in shape, but when you're tired,
your fatigue is on your mind, you know? Again, this is just... I wasn't in the gym
with Gervonta, so I'm just saying
that my assumption, based on what I'm seeing,
is the way he trained for this fight
is to be questioned. Well, and of course,
we will remind you that he did miss the weight
by 1 3/4 pound, for whatever that's worth... But, again,
that goes a long way. He just moved up in weight. Yep. Shouldn't be missing weight
at 135 when you move up in weight. Gamboa stumbling, trying,
and there's Davis, but, man, a rough-and-tumbled
affair here in the eleventh. This isn't MMA. Even though there's fighters
that are across the street, you will still be compared to guys who fight
on other networks. Teofimo Lopez is
a young lightweight phenom, looks explosive as it comes
in winning IBF lightweight title against Richard Commey,
you know? Gervonta's performance will, undoubtedly,
be compared to that because he's another young,
lightweight phenom, so you want to... You don't
just want to win these fights. You want to
come in at your best because you will be compared
to other phenoms. Well said by Paulie Malignaggi
as 40 seconds remain in the eleventh round,
and Gamboa, again, hanging on. And mind you, Commey was a much
alive-r guy than a shot Gamboa. Yeah.
Oh, 100 percent, yeah. And, you know, I mean, having Gamboa down and hurt
a couple of times, had he stayed down, that would
have been his statement, but he didn't... But he's just holding on. ...get these answers,
you know? That's right. And now, maybe, Davis learns
from tonight because if...
Oh. Is this a sign of what's to come
in the twelfth and final round as Davis comes to life
at the end of round 11? [ Bell dings ] Because just maybe this is
a learning experience Davis can take with him
and become better from it. DeJesus: Sit down.
Let's go. Listen to me. This the last round. Let's go.
This the last round. Listen to me. Now is when you fight.
Let's go. Now is when you know
how to fight. Now we take him out of the ring. We take him out of the ring... Nice and tight,
and your arms up. Keep those gloves up. He only has that one punch. Let's go. Nice and tight. Less holding. ...against him, hear? Tank, when he pushing you
back, turn. You get it? When you turn... Announcer: ...final round of
this... Bernstein: Well, Tank Davis
came to life in the last part
of the last round, and landed that nice
straight left hand, and then he had Gamboa hurt. Beautiful jab,
it's a very solid jab, and now he came after him
to try and end the fight. Didn't get it ended,
but we head into the twelfth... Will that momentum
continue into the final round? Ranallo:
There's a combination by Davis backing up Gamboa momentarily. Gamboa hands down staying
in the fight, exposing his chin. I tell you Davis
didn't only miss those. Gamboa didn't make him
miss those. I mean, Gamboa was
just falling in. He was there right
for a big shot. It was just missed. Gamboa's corner mentioning
the fact that Davis has only one punch. That one punch, the left hand, has dropped Gamboa
twice in this fight. Yeah, they were just being
salesmen in Gamboa's corner. Of course, right. They were just trying
to make him believe. Oh, short right hook by Davis,
but Gamboa, it's like he's on ice skates,
just still on his feet, and avoiding a couple
of those shots, and then Davis
falls off-balance. That was in
the Gamboa corner. Maybe it put a little
extra water there. A minute gone in the twelfth
and final round. Uppercut, left hand,
Gamboa still standing. Wow. [ Audience cheering ] Incredible. Oh! Oh, and down goes Gamboa! Whoop, there it is. I feel like Gamboa never saw
the uppercut the whole fight. That was the most dangerous shot
Davis was throwing all night, and it landed a lot
when he did use it. And, of course, fitting that
he ends it on that shot. It wasn't the easiest fight,
but at the end, Davis smokes Gamboa
like a Cuban cigar, drops him for the third
and final time of the fight, successful at 135 pounds,
and Yuriorkis Gamboa, amazing how many shots
he took, Al. Yeah, obviously he took
some huge power punches, and there's no question
whether it's at 130 or a 135, Davis is a very,
very potent puncher, and he showed that at the end when he was able
to take him out. That's what happens, man,
but he did what he did. Davis with his daughter,
Gervanni. Well, Gervonta Davis finds
himself in the twelfth round for the first time,
and what does he do? He scores a knockout, and that certainly will warm his
heart and those of his corner, even if he had problems
getting to that point. The left hand lands. The uppercut that Paulie
talked about, Davis has an excellent
uppercut, and it was a punch that Gamboa
had a hard time finding it, a hard time defending it, and Davis was able
to end the fight. And credit to Jack Reiss. He took a look at Gamboa. He wanted him to get a chance
to finish the fight. He felt like he'd earned it,
but he took a look at him and he said, "You know what?
Let me be merciful and stop it." And there was no objections
from the Gamboa corner. No, good stoppage
by Reiss. You could tell he thought
twice about it. Gamboa was game all night. There's the uppercut. If we get a chance to see
Reiss in this, he gives him a look
before he stops it. It's almost like,
"You're in the last round. Let me see if I can let you
finish the fight." And he steps over him,
and then he takes a look at him and he says enough, and,
of course, a merciful stoppage. Yeah, an appropriate
call by Jack Reiss. No question about that. No, no complaint. And whatever you say
about the fact that Davis had his issues
in the middle of this fight, at the end of the day,
he was able to close the show. Yeah, and the reason
I'm mentioning Jack Reiss is because he was aware
enough to say, "Let me see if I can give this guy
a chance to finish the fight." And here is, again,
the uppercut. And there's the uppercut
that did the job. And he loaded up... Davis was loading up a lot
of big uppercuts tonight, and it was the shot that Gamboa was having
the most trouble seeing. And normally, you wouldn't be
able to throw that uppercut from that far out,
but he wasn't worried about being countered by Gamboa,
so he was able to throw it. Yes, yes,
and the opposite stance, a lot of times you get
that shot a little bit better. 23 fights,
23 victories, 22 knockouts, Gervonta "Tank" Davis, successful in his first
fight at 135. And it's all about learning. It's all about experience
for the first time going to the twelfth
and final round. Let's revisit the stats, Al. And a look at the numbers. We talked a lot about the fact
that there was not a lot of volume from Davis. Clearly, he was very effective
landing 37 percent of his... or 48 percent
of his power punches. He lands 50 percent
under normal circumstances. That's everything
other than the jab. So he showed that accuracy,
and it ultimately would end up winning him
this fight by knockout. Let's make it official
with Jimmy Lennon Jr. Lennon: Ladies and gentlemen, we have the time of 1:17 in round number 12. Our referee in charge,
Jack Reiss, stops the contest. He is the winner by way
of technical knockout. He is still undefeated. He is the new WBA lightweight
champion of the world, Gervonta "Tank" Davis!
Tank looked terrible in this fight. I’m not watching it again thanks.
Yawn.