Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (24-0, 23 KOs) will be looking to become a three-division world champion when he takes on WBA ‘regular’ 140-lb champion Mario Barrios (26-0, 17 KOs) this summer at a still to be determined date and venue.
Don’t be surprised if the Davis vs. Barrios fight winds up on Showtime pay-per-view. That’s not going to make the boxing fans happy, but with the news of Andy Ruiz Jr’s comeback fight against Chris Arreola heading towards PPV, it won’t be a complete shocker if Davis – Barrios is pay-per-view as well.
Tank Davis turned down a fight against Ryan Garcia in favor of the Barrios match, which an unusual move but he’s obviously not the shot-caller.
Davis’ promoters at Mayweather Promotions were the ones that made this move to match him against the little-known Barrios.
If Tank dethrones Barrios, he’ll have the WBA ‘regular’ 140-lb title, which could come in handy if he wants to face Adrien Broner or Regis Prograis.
Barrios is similar to Ryan Garcia in the way that he throws a lot of left hooks and is very easy to hit. That tricky left hook that Barrios throws repeatedly could be a problem for Tank. If he gets hit with that shot without seeing it, he’ll go to sleep.
He’s an excellent left hook, maybe as good as Ryan’s, but his right hand is a lot better.
Barrios’ major flaw in his game is he gives up his height and reach by getting in close, and this puts him in the firing line for his opponents’ shots.
The lack of defense by Barrios is going to get him in trouble against Tank Davis.
Tank, 26, will need to put on some size to compete with the lanky 5’10” Barrios, as it’s going to be a difficult one for him.
Barrios is clearly the weakest link among the champions at light-welterweight, so Tank should be able to chop him down at some point to score a knockout.
In Barrios’ recent fight against Ryan Karl, he took a lot of punishment in the process of scoring a sixth-round knockout on October 31st at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Barrios fought on the undercard of the Tank Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz on Showtime pay-per-view.
Barrios can’t afford to take the same kind of punishment against Tank as he did against Karl if he wants to last long.
“Sources: A 140-pound fight between Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Mario Barrios is in the works for this summer. @Gervonta’s last fight was at 130 pounds so he’s moving up two weight classes for a bout with a big, undefeated 140-pounder,” said Mike Coppinger.