Many crave a certain mythical title in the boxing world. And no, it isn’t the coveted number one pound-for-pound slot that countless fighters yearn for.
Being known as the needle mover, the ticket seller, and the star among stars – has always held a certain level of prestige. Up until this point, that very title has vacillated from fighter to fighter. And while the likes of Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, and most notably, Canelo Alvarez, have all been viewed as the head honcho, Gervonta Davis firmly believes that he’s usurped them all as the man around town.
“I feel as though I’m the face of boxing right now,” said Davis to Showtime Sports during a recent interview.
His claims, while audacious, may have merit behind them. In addition to packing out arenas across the globe, Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) has shown to be a draw in the pay-per-view market, regardless of who he’s facing. Most recently, against the unheralded Hector Luis Garcia, the 28-year-old generated a total of roughly 220k pay-per-view buys.
That number, while respectable, figures to jump tenfold next month. On April 22nd, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Davis will place his unsullied record on the line when he squares off against fellow unbeaten and widely popular star, Ryan Garcia.
As their mega clash draws near, Davis can’t help but to take notice of his pugilistic surroundings. Though he admits that the boxing landscape is filled to the brim with talented fighters with ever-growing followings, he’s completely convinced that his contemporaries are simply playing follow the leader.
Over time, Davis has also realized that history repeats itself. With some of the game’s greats, including Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, and numerous others, pushing the envelope and emerging as the kingpin of their generation, Davis concludes that he’s merely following in their lofty footsteps.
“It’s a lot of fighters, if you watch, they do everything that I do. When Floyd was coming through, when Oscar was coming through, it’s something that you can’t teach. It’s just in you. When Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, and all the greats were coming through, everybody wanted to be like that. That’s why a lot of people are calling my name.”