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Gervonta Davis can envision himself one day taking over the junior welterweight division.
For now, the only thing in his mind is conquering his next challenge.
A two-division leap is on the schedule for Baltimore’s Davis, who moves up from junior lightweight to challenge for Mario Barrios’ secondary version of the WBA junior welterweight title. The bout will top a June 26 Showtime Pay-Per-View event live from State Farm Arena in Davis’ second hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.
The move up in weight has naturally prompted the question of Davis’ desire to one day challenge the winner of this weekend’s championship showdown between unbeaten and unified 140-pound titlists Jose Ramirez (26-0, 17KOs; WBC/WBO) and Josh Taylor (17-0, 13KOs; WBA/IBF). Whomever prevails in their ESPN headliner will emerge as just the division’s second-ever undisputed champion in the four-belt era.
Word apparently hasn’t made its way to the division’s newest arrival.
“We know the big picture is to fight everybody. Our main focus is [Barrios],” Davis insisted during a press conference held Thursday afternoon at State Farm Arena. “I didn’t know [Ramirez and Taylor were] fighting, but I’m all for it.
“If it’s a great opportunity and my team with it, I’m all for it. I’m a team player.”
For now, defeating San Antonio’s Barrios (26-0, 17KOs) is all that Davis (24-0, 23KOs) has on his mind.
The fight comes six months after both scored 6th round knockout wins in separate fights on a Showtime PPV event last Halloween at Alamodome in San Antonio. Davis dropped back to junior lightweight to score a highlight reel knockout of unbeaten Leo Santa Cruz, 10 months after testing the lightweight waters in a 12th round knockout of Yuriorkis Gamboa, which took place in Dec. 2019 also at State Farm Arena. The fight saw Davis deliver an uneven performance before closing in style, though coming a day after needing two tries and extra time in order to make weight.
Things went much smoother for Davis’ last camp and insists that more of the same has come in preparation for his showdown with Barrios. The fight will likely come with the concussive punching southpaw weighing more than his previously heaviest mark of 135 ½ pounds for a 1st round knockout win in 2016. The lack of an excessive weight cut figures to feature a more fluid version of the unbeaten two-division titlist.
“I’m not worried about losing any speed by adding weight,” insists Davis. “I’m going to be quick regardless. I think I’m going to be at my best at 140-pounds.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox