Tank Davis The Ghost Buster

Saturday’s fight ended a 14-month layoff for Davis, who is now 30-0 with 28 KOs and last competed against Ryan Garcia in April 2023. He is the first boxer to defeat Martin, who fell to 18-1 (12 KOs).

“I just had to get in the right range, and I was finding it,” Davis said. “I just had to break him down.” “I knew the way he fell he wasn’t getting back up.”

After watching the earlier rounds, you could clearly see Davis trying to get his rhythm back and Martin was outworking Tank and won the first few rounds.

“I was rusty, but it was OK because I’m back,” Davis said. “A couple of rounds, I felt like I completely needed a warmup, but it’s OK. His footwork wasn’t bothering me. I knew he would tire out. That’s why we decided to just stand there and be a target for him so he could tire himself out.”

Martin feels like his complacency is what got him in trouble and allowed the momentum of the fight to shift in Tanks favor.

“I feel like, in the beginning, I was in control, but then I got a little too comfortable,” Martin said. “I stopped doing my movement, and once I stopped moving, he was hitting me with big shots. When I stopped doing my thing, he started hitting me big. It was just me trying to figure out what I could do to try to slow down the pressure that was coming.”

Who’s next?

Matchups against Stevenson, Devin Haney or Vasiliy Lomachenko would be the toughest test for Davis. A rematch with Garcia would also be on the table following his upset win over Haney earlier this year. But King Ryan is in trouble with his failed drug test and a likely suspension is coming his way.