A hopeful-looking Frank Martin called out WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis immediately after his victory over Michel Rivera last Saturday night at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
With that said, Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) is going to have to get in the line and be prepared for a long, long wait, possibly two years before Gervonta (27-0, 25 KOs) is freed up from the more lucrative fights that he has on his plate.
Next year, Tank will be fighting Hector Luis Garcia on January 7th, and then Ryan Garcia on April 15th. If the fight is a huge success on Showtime PPV and the match is competitive, Tank and Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs) could meet in a rematch in the second half of the year.
Besides those fights, Tank is interested in facing Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney. Those are bigger fights on paper for Gervonta than a match against the newcomer Frank Martin, who only has that one fight against Michel Rivera to show for himself against a top-10 contender.
To speed up the process for a world title shot against Tank Davis, the 27-year-old Martin needs to agree to the fight against Shakur Stevenson.
Shakur called him out last Saturday night, and he seems serious about wanting to fight him next. A win for Martin against Stevenson would put him in a position where he might get a fight against Tank in 2024 but not next year.
If Martin’s promoter Errol Spence Jr won’t allow him to fight Stevenson due to the likelihood of him losing, then he’s going to have to beat some of the tough bottom ten contenders. These would be good options: George Kambosos Jr, Edwin De La Santos, Jamaine Ortiz, and Jeremiah Nakathila.
Martin expressed interest in fighting Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero and Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz next. Unfortunately, those guys aren’t likely to agree to fight Martin, but even if they did and he won, it wouldn’t speed up his move to a lucrative payday fight against Gervonta. They’re not big enough names to get Martin a straight shot against Tank in 2023.
“We’re ready for any of the top fighters, so let us get them. We’re ready to eat,” said Frank Martin last Saturday night. “We can get them all. We can get Gervonta Davis. We can get Devin Haney. We can get any of those top guys. We’re ready. I see Rolly in here. Rolly, let’s make it happen,” said Martin.