Tank Davis Reminds of Priming Manny Pacquiao
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 25 Apr 2023
The phenomenal rise of Gervonta Tank Davis brings to memory a priming, glory bound Manny Pacquiao in terms of his electrifying sudden knockout victories over named opponents and ability to pack arenas even in fights where no major world titles were at stake.
Davis in his latest stoppage victory over the vaunted and equally popular Ryan Garcia reminds of Pacquiao in his series against former three division world champion Eric Morales that was viewed live and via pay per view by hordes of boxing fans even if only the WBC International super featherweight title was on the line.
Pacquiao first fought Morales in his debut move up to the super featherweight class in 2004 but lost on points after a spirited give and take fight. The Pacquiao camp, including chief trainer Freddie Roach, attributed the defeat to Pacquiao fighting for the first time at 130 lbs and a bad cut over the right eye he suffered early in the fight. Morales also appeared the bigger fighter even when he was still fighting at featherweight, Morales was often complained of rehydrating as heavy as a light welterweight by fight time.
Though no title was at stake, a sell-out crowd of nearly 15,000 came to see the fight at the MGM in Las Vegas. Thousands more viewed the fight via pay per view.
Hence in the rematch, Pacquiao made the proper adjustment to counter Morales right hand and made strict provision that Eric could not come even an ounce above the 130 lbs limit at weigh in or he will be fined accordingly hinting at Morales taking undue advantage in rehydrating after the official weigh in.
Pacquiao dominated the fight, eventually scoring a technical knockout win against Morales in the tenth round and avenge the third loss of his career in their first fight with nearly 15,000 roaring fans in attendance at the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas and thousands more watching via pay per view .
Their third fight or rubber match was more easy knockout victory for Pacquiao that set up the Filipino for a match against another familiar opponent Juan Manuel Marquez that signaled Pacquiao's march to a now record eight world boxing championships in as many weight classes.
Talking of Davis, key to his victory over Garcia was his addition of rehydration clause in his recent fight versus KingRy that prevented Garcia from weighing as heavy as he usual did after the official weigh in at catch weight of 136 lbs. That's taking a page from what Pacquiao did in his two succeeding fights versus Morales who at that time was already fighting as high as lightweight. It should be added that Morales made a career resurrection late in his career as a super lightweight or junior welterweight before his eventual retirement.
However the comparison with Pacquiao ends there apart from their explosiveness and extreme popularity as Davis win over Garcia does not necessarily mean he is ready to take on the Devin Haney- Vasily Lomachenko winner for the undisputed world lightweight championship.
In fact, I don't think he is even ready for Shakur Stevenson.
Main reason is that Davis has yet to prove himself against smart boxers.
Davis opponents after Leo Santacruz have been mostly willing come forward punchers who are ready made for his style of fighting.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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