Davis Vs Martin; Benavidez Vs Gvozdyk Set For June 15

Gervonta Davis vs Frank Martin has been announced for June 15 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Davis will headline PBC’s third PPV on Amazon Prime Video since their deal, as he defends his WBA Lightweight Title. Davis has not boxed since stopping Ryan Garcia in April 2023. Tank subsequently suffered legal problems, imprisoned for 44 days for breaking his house arrest conditions over a hit-and-run incident. Now that he is out, Davis must be on his best form to take on the undefeated Martin.

Davis vs Martin

Martin is a slick southpaw coming off a unanimous decision win against Artem Harutyunyan. Martin was pushed all the way. However, Artem took a knee in the final round, which proved crucial on the scorecards. He is currently ranked second in the WBA rankings as he chases his first-world title.

A win for Davis puts him in the conversation for a unification at 135 against the WBC Lightweight Champion Shakur Stevenson. He could also face the winner of Vasiliy Lomachenko vs George Kambosos Jr., who faces off in May for the vacant IBF Lightweight Title.

Davis could move up to 140 and face Devin Haney since Martin is a slick boxer like The Dream. Davis has been accused of not facing the best fighters in his weight class. The perception is that Davis has chosen to take less risky fights for higher purses rather than trying to establish a legacy. Paulie Malignaggi was clear that Shakur Stevenson would be Davis’ biggest threat.

“This guy is the best pure boxer in the sport, no one can touch him, no one can beat him, including elite level guys. Shakur Stevenson would beat Gervonta Davis and he’d make it look pretty easy. I’ll tell you what, Gervonta’s power is always a wild card, but Shakur Stevenson is way too good.

“Shakur is the most effective fighter in the sport. It wasn’t exciting against De Los Santos, he still dominated a dangerous guy, a guy who’s a dangerous puncher, it doesn’t matter how exciting you think he was. We’re talking about who wins. Whether it’s exciting, whether it’s boring, Shakur will beat you and that’s the bottom line. If he’s looked at the right way, he will be the No. 1 fighter pound-for-pound in the world one day,” Malignaggi stated

Benavidez vs Gvozdyk

In the co-main event, David Benavidez will box Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the WBC Interim Light Heavyweight Title. The fight came about after Benavidez failed to get the Canelo Alvarez fight at 168. Despite being the WBC Interim Super Middleweight Champion for over two years, Canelo chose to face Jaime Munguia instead.

A win for Benavidez makes him mandatory for the winner of Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol, who squared off for the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship on June 1. That would leave the WBC with a decision over what is mandatory, increasing calls on Canelo to either face Benavidez, vacate, or be stripped.