LAS VEGAS – Former welterweight champion Shawn Porter believes Frank Martin could provide Gervonta Davis with an acid test.
“The Ghost” is a hefty underdog in Las Vegas, but he is talking a good fight and Porter believes that Martin, 18-0 (12 KOs), could present Davis with some problems in the MGM Grand on Saturday (June 15).
The consensus in Las Vegas is that Martin is lacking the experience ahead of this showcase fight, but the flipside is that Davis has not fought anyone like Martin.
“Frank Martin is about to show that and lead the way being that guy that can pull out whatever people haven’t been able to pull out from Tank,” Porter said. “With other people, you see Tank slowly thinking and being methodical, but this one Tank is going to have to pick it up, think fast, and we’re gonna see the kind of boxer that he really is.
“I think it’s going to be lights out. I think it’s going to be close all the way down the line, and I think this is going to be one where we have to see Tank dog it out. And we will see what both these guys are made of.”
Davis is the star of the PBC show and the crown jewel of the Vegas economy this week. Celebrities and athletes from around the U.S. will take their seats to watch the Baltimore star fight Martin.
“What everybody has said to me, and I agree with this, he kind of translates to everybody,” Porter said, in discussion about the Davis brand. “He translates to the street kid that’s doing whatever that street kid is doing, and that street kid looks at Tank and whatever he’s doing and says, ‘Oh man, you’re fighting out there, I’m fighting out here’. And to just the boxing world, no one can deny a knockout, and you know that Tank has lived up to the bill of being a Tank, so I think that without him having had the true ability to crossover, he still has some ability to crossover, which is pretty cool.”
As the co-main, David Benavidez fights Oleksandr Gvozdyk at light heavyweight in an intriguing clash, and asked which contest he’s looking forward to most, Porter added: “Both of them. I kind of felt like if there was anybody who was going to be able to deliver a good, strong, competitive 12-round fight to David Benavidez it was going to be an Eastern European, so my words are going to be challenged this weekend.
“I think we will truly get to see how great he is. We know he’s great, I think this fight is going to take him to another level. Not a level Canelo would have taken him to, in terms of fame, stardom, money, all those kinds of things, but I think that this will give him the accreditation and respect he has but at a new level.”
Benavidez has moved up to 175lbs in pursuit of other opportunities, unable to land a fight with Alvarez who owns all of the belts at 168. Porter is not confident that dream match ever happens.
“I just don’t believe we see this fight,” Porter said. “I think Canelo made some references to this fight happening in the future, but I don’t think we’ll see it.”