Many people wonder what the scale will say on Halloween Eve. Treat or trick?
Gervonta Davis has had problems making weight in the past, most notably when he lost his junior lightweight title before his defense against Francisco Fonseca in 2017. And he needed two tries to make the lightweight limit for his title fight with Yuriorkis Gamboa last December, in which he won a 135-pound title.
Can he go back down to 130 for his two-division title fight against Leo Santa Cruz on Oct. 31 at the Alamodome in San Antonio?
Santa Cruz is among those who has had his doubts.
“Our biggest concern has been making sure he makes weight,” Santa Cruz said on a Zoom call as Davis listened.
Davis insists there’s no reason to worry. He said he has left his discipline problems in his hometown of Baltimore after moving his boxing base to Las Vegas, where promoter and mentor Floyd Mayweather lives and operates.
Now, he says, it’s all boxing all the time. He said he has worked out every day for 12 weeks so far for his fight with Santa Cruz, the past eight in the boxing gym.
130? No problem. In fact, assuming he wins, he says he might fight again at that weight if makes sense from a business standpoint even though he’ll still hold a 135-pound belt.
“I’m having my camp here so I can stay focused on just boxing,” he said on the Zoom call. “I’m close to my Mayweather team and I have Floyd in the gym with me more. … This camp has been great for me. I’m already on weight.
“I’ve just been working hard. We’re not worrying about weight. We’re worrying about giving Leo Santa Cruz a great fight on October 1st.”
Davis, 25, used the word “professional” during the call. Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, said the fighter has come a long way in that department.
“Over the last year I’ve seen Tank mature a great deal,” Ellerbe said. “One of the biggest things is that he got out of his comfort zone by coming to Las Vegas. He used to train in Baltimore. I think he’s showing he’s ready for the next step.
“He’s completely focused, doing everything that’s asked of him. … He wants to give the best performance of his life. I’m confident that will happen.”
Santa Cruz says he’s sold. He expects the scale to read 130 or below when Davis steps onto it the day before the fight.
“I have no concerns,” he said. “I think he’s going make weight. He’s training really hard, he looks like he’s in good shape. Like I said, in his last fight he didn’t make weight. That was during Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s hard not to eat during those times. You see food and you want to eat it.
“For this fight, I think he’s going to come ready, I think he’s going to make weight.”
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