Gervonta Davis holds/held WBA "titles" in three divisions but only one is the "real" championship in that division (junior lightweight) and that one Davis recently vacated.
Davis will defend one of his two minor titles (the lightweight) against replacement Isaac Cruz and for all of the action, punching power and PPV buys that Davis brings to the table, Cruz is the best fighter that Davis has faced since Jose Pedraza in 2016-FIVE years ago.
What makes this more remarkable is that Cruz is likely the second-best fighter that Davis has faced period. although Leo Santa Cruz is a better fighter over the course of his career, Santa Cruz is a much smaller natural fighter in facing Davis with Cruz being a natural 135-pound fighter.
Cruz is a good puncher, a solid fighter but at best is near the bottom of the top ten of the lightweight division.
Still, Cruz is going to come forward and bang with Davis and should make an exciting fight for Davis that will continue to help Davis build his brand- for as long as it lasts!
I just hope that Davis isn't wasting his prime years before seeing just how good he could truly be.
The undercard will feature two WBC eliminators to determine future mandatory challengers to their Champions Charlo.
At 154, the winner of Sebastian Fundora and Sergio Garcia will be in line to face Jermell, who holds three of the four titles in the division but whom I thought lost his draw with WBO champion Brian Castano.
Fundora is the 6'5 "Towering Inferno" that is freakishly tall for a junior middleweight and seems to be coming into his own over his last three fights that include knockout wins over gatekeepers Nathaniel Gallimore and Jorge Cota.
Garcia, not to be confused with the golfer, is an undefeated Spaniard with thirty-three wins but only one can be considered a quality win- a decision win over Great Britain's Ted Cheesman in 2019.
This appears to me to be a showcase fight for Fundora to establish himself as a mandatory contender with a spectacular win but remember two Spanish fighters have pulled major upsets this year (Sandor Martin over Mikey Garcia and Kiko Martinez over Kid Galahad) and both would be far bigger surprises than an upset here.
The other eliminator will establish a mandatory contender for Jermall Charlo at 160 pounds with rugged contender Sergey Dereyvanchenko against Carlos Adames.
Dereyvanchenko is best known for his near misses in razor-close losses in title challenges to Daniel Jacobs and Gennady Golovkin and a close but not quite as close loss to Charlo but against fighters just underneath his level Dereyvanchenko has steamrolled all that he has faced.
Adames was a once highly thought of prospect and was favored against Patrick Teixeira in a 2019 fight for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title but a knockdown in the seventh round was the difference between losing a unanimous decision and a majority decision draw.
Adames has beaten two journeymen since losing to Teixeira and moving up to middleweight but I fail to see any reason that Adames deserves to be in a title eliminator at this time.
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