The fight is officially happening.
It seems like it was about one hundred years ago now when promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr announced on social media that junior lightweight titleholder Gervonta “Tank” Davis (20-0, 19 KOs) would be defending against former three division titleholder Abner Mares (31-3-1, 15 KOs). Given how long it took for the fight to actually be made after Mayweather’s announcement, it is safe to say Floyd probably initially jumped the gun on announcing the fight. He was right in the end though, eventually.
The fight will air as a Showtime main event live on February 9th from the StubHub Center. By then StubHub will actually have been renamed something stupid (Dignity Health Sports Park), but I am just going to ignore that terrible change for as long as possible. I will definitely say that I am very glad this is a Showtime main event. The cupboard is pretty bare on the premium network given all the PBC talent that will be fighting on a FOX network in the first half of 2019. They needed this one.
On paper this is a fight to get excited about. Mares will be looking to become a rare four division titleholder while probably representing the stiffest challenge of Tank’s career. I just personally can’t see it being all that competitive though. Gervonta’s dynamic straight line attack is just all wrong for Mares. The Mexican will also be the notably smaller man in there. Of course the young titleholder has shown up without being at his best before and runs with a questionable crowd featuring Adrien Broner, but it is hard to see him not taking a three division titleholder seriously. I expect Gervonta Davis will show up in shape and I suspect he is just going to slice right through Abner Mares.
I’ve been wrong before though and I will be again. We will just have to see how this one plays out in early February. From a credentials and resume based perspective, this is an excellent Showtime main event. It will also definitely be an action oriented contest for as long as it does last.
