Gervonta “Tank” Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) stopped Héctor Luis García (16-1, 10 KOs) in the ninth round in a tougher-than-expected fight on Saturday night in their headliner on Showtime PPV at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Tank hurt the previously unbeaten 31-year-old Hector Garcia late in the eighth round. Unfortunately for the fans, Hector was too hurt to come out for the ninth round, resulting in the contest being halted.
At the stoppage time, the fight appeared to be even, and some would argue that Garcia had gotten the better of the action in five of the eight rounds. He did an excellent job of outboxing Tank Davis and neutralizing his power.
With the win, Tank will face Ryan Garcia next in April in a catchweight fight at 136 lbs on Showtime PPV.
Boxing 247 will give live updates & results below:
Jaron “Boots” Ennis (30-0, 27 KOs) had a tougher time than expected, beating the crafty Karen Chukhadzhian (21-2, 11 KOs) by twelve round unanimous decision to the vacant IBF interim welterweight title.
Chukhadzhian used a combination of nonstop moving & and a low punch output to survive the 12 rounds against Ennis, who was trying to take his head off with every punch to impress the fans.
The scores:
- 120-108
- 120-108
- 120-108
Towards the end of the fight, Chukhadzhian showed a tad bit of aggression, but mostly he was running around the ring, trying to avoid getting hit by Ennis and boring the crowd.
Jaron Ennis is now in the position to challenge IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr for his title if he doesn’t vacate it. Perhaps tonight’s lackluster performance against the runner Chukhadzhian will give Spence the self-confidence needed to fight Boots Ennis.
Roiman Villa (26-1, 24 KOs) pulled off a massive upset, beating Rashidi Ellis (24-1, 15 KOs) by a 12 round majority decision with a late rally in their IBF welterweight title eliminator.
Rashidi looked like gold in the first half of the fight, as he easily dominated the much slower Villa was his superior hand speed. Things fell apart for Rashidi at the midpoint because of the pressure that Villa was putting on h
Ellis was out on his feet in the 12 round after getting nailed by a hard hook from Villa. Badly hurt, Rashidi, 29, went down three times in the round, but Villa was only given credit for two knockdowns due to a blown call by the referee.
The scores were 114-112, 114-112, and 113-113. With the win, Villa is the mandatory to IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr.
With that said, it remains to be seen whether Spence will stick around long enough to defend his IBF belt against Villa because he already has Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis breathing down his neck and will need to face him after his April tune-up fight.
In an impressive boxing display, former two-division world champion Demetrius Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) outclassed Demond Nicholson (26-5-1, 22 KOs), easily beating him by a lopsided 10 round unanimous decision in super middleweight action. The scores were 100-88, 100-88, and 100-88.
Andrade, 34, unloaded on Nicholson in the second and tenth rounds, knocking him down. Nicholson lacked the technical ability to make much of a fight of it, and Andrade had an easy time outboxing the 29-year-old.
Andrade should have stepped it up in the later rounds to get Nicholson out of there because he was fighting at too slow of a pace to entertain the ringside boxing fans. In fairness to Andrade, it could be ring rust. He hasn’t been active, so you couldn’t expect him to look overly sharp.
Vito Mielnicki Jr. (14-1, 9 KOs) defeated Omar Rosales (9-2-1, 5 KOs) in an impressive fourth round stoppage of a ten round bout. The 20-year-old Mielnicki dropped Rosales in the 3rd with a right hand to the head.
In the fourth, Mielnicki Jr teed off on Rosales with shots to the body & head, resulting in his corner throwing in the towel.
Former two-division world champion Lamont Peterson (35-6-1, 17 KOs) suffered a disappointing fourth round knockout loss to Michael Ogundo (17-16, 14 KOs) in light welterweight action.
The 38-year-old Peterson, who hadn’t fought since 2019, was drilled to the canvas in the fourth round by the 40-year-old Ogundo. Moments later, the contest was halted, sending Peterson down to his third loss in a row.
In hindsight, Peterson should have fought a lesser puncher than Ogundo because when you’re coming off a four-year-old layoff like him, it’s not a good idea to face someone with some pop in their punches.
Unbeaten light welterweight fringe contender Brandun Lee (27-0, 23 KOs) continued his slow climb up the ranks, beating an overmatched journeyman Diego Luque (21-11-2, 10 KOs) by a fourth round knockout. Referee Brent Bovell halted the contest at 2:55 of the fourth of a scheduled eight round fight.
Lee, 23, needs to start fighting better opposition because he’s being moved entirely too slowly. You’d had to see him compile a 50-0 record, filled with nothing but fluff opponents.
Junior middleweight Travon Marshall (7-0, 6 KOs) knocked out Shawn West (7-3-1, 4 KOs) by a fast first round knockout in a fight that was over too quickly to see much of either fighter.
Super middleweight contender Kyrone Davis (17-3-1, 6 KOs) beat Cristián Fabián Ríos (23-16-3, 7 KOs) by an eight round unanimous decision. The scores were as follows: 80-72, 80-72, and 79-73.
Preview:
Tonight’s fight will occur at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C. Jaron Ennis (29-0, 27 KOs) hopes to take the spotlight from Gervonta Davis by scoring an early knockout over Karen Chukhadzhian (21-1, 11 KOs) in their fight for the vacant interim IBF welterweight title.
If Ennis wins, he’ll be in a position to challenge IBF champion Errol Spence Jr for his title later this year.
Demetrius Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs) meets Demond Nicholson (26-4-1, 22 KOs) in a 10 round fight in super middleweight action in the first of three televised fights on Showtime PPV.
Also on the undercard, welterweight contender Rashidi Ellis (24-0, 15 KOs) fights Roiman Villa (25-1, 24 KOs) in a 12 round IBF welterweight title eliminator.
“People haven’t seen enough of Gervonta Davis. They think I’m some maniac because I’m a boxer and I’m vicious in the ring,” said Gervonta Davis to Brian Custer’s podcast. “Mayweather Promotions did a great job with me, but it was time to move on to build myself as a businessman and as a fighter.
“Ryan has high hopes,” said Tank Davis when told that Ryan Garcia is predicting a second round knockout of him in April. “He’s a fighter, and fighters are supposed to speak highly of themselves.
“He’s talking and putting in the work, grinding, focusing on Gervonda Davis. We can’t overlook his statement. We just have to be mindful that he’s coming.
“I’ve got to make sure I prepare myself much harder than him. That’s a strong prediction,” Tank said when reminded that Ryan says he’s stopping him early.
“I’m willing to fight for sure,” said Gervonta about a match with undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney. “Let this Hector and Ryan fight get through, I’m willing to fight in a heartbeat.
“Hopefully, I get in three. Two for sure, but three is pushing,” said Gervonta when asked how many fights he’ll have in 2023. “I definitely want three.”
WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis fights Hector Luis Garcia in the main event & future welterweight star Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis battles Karen Chukhadzhian tonight on Showtime PPV. The card begins at 9:00 p.m. ET.