‘Tank’ Davis KOs Rolly Romero in Brooklyn

In the battle between knockout punchers, Gervonta “Tank” Davis caught Rolly Romero walking into a counter left-sleeper special and kept his WBA lightweight title by knockout in front of a New York City crowd on Saturday.

Shades of Manny Pacquiao.

“I didn’t set up that punch, he walked right into it,” Davis said referencing a 2012 fight that saw Pacquiao get knocked out against Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez.

Baltimore’s Davis (27-0) remained undefeated and proved to the sold-out crowd at Barclays Center in Brooklyn that he has more than just power in his win over Las Vegas strongman Romero (14-1, 12 KOs). He has tactics and power to go with all the talk.

The fight was supposed to happen back in December but when Romero was accused of sexual assault he had to pull out and defend himself in court. Charges in Nevada were eventually dropped and Romero again found an opportunity and talked his way into another fight.

Weeks leading up to the fight both Davis and Romero were very vocal and each promised emphatic wins. A knockout win only made sense as each has the ability to end fights with a single blow.

“I think it was all about selling the fight. I was just grateful to be in this position,” said Davis about the war of words.

Once the opening bell rang the two offensively potent fighters were very cautious. Each respected the other’s ability to end the fight with a single punch.

Davis seemed to focus on counter punches while Romero focused on combinations. Both found some success as fans were on the edge of their seats.

Finally, in the sixth round, Davis connected with a single left counter and Romero seemed irritated by the blow. He moved in to fire a combination and after a Romero right to the body, Davis unleashed a left to the jaw and down went the Las Vegas fighter face first against the ropes and to the floor. Romero struggled to get up, but did, and as the referee checked his senses the muscular fighter struggled to stay upright.

Referee David Fields examined Romero and called the fight off at 2:39 of round six. The same round in which Marquez knocked out Pacquiao.

“He was strong for sure. A couple of shots I felt. I was getting warmed up,” Davis said.

But once the punches were unleashed it was the more experienced Davis who prevailed.

“We did it again in New York City,” said Davis about winning again in New York. “I want to thank Rolly and want to thank his team. We settled it like a man.”

Other Bouts

The usually mobile Erislandy Lara (29-3-3, 17 KOs) fought mostly flat-footed but that did not impede his ability to win by eighth round technical knockout over Ireland’s Spike O’Sullivan (31-5, 21 KOs) in their battle for the WBA middleweight title.

Cuba’s Lara floored O’Sullivan in the fourth round with a double left cross but the tough mustachioed Irishman was able to withstand multiple more rounds before getting stopped by another vaunted left cross. Referee Benji Estevez stopped the fight 23 seconds into the eighth round.

“He was wide with his punches,” said Lara about O’Sullivan. “I’m a smart, slick boxer. I wanted to see what he does then knock him out.”

Heavy-handed southpaw middleweight Jesus Ramos needed a few rounds to figure out Southern California’s Luis Santamaria’s movements but then the bigger man pounded away.

Ramos pounded away and was effective with the left cross but Santamaria landed his own combinations, he just could never hurt the bigger fighter. Still, the welterweight Santamaria proved he has a good chin and was able to take the fight all 10 rounds.

All three judges scored in favor of Ramos 98-92 and 97-93 twice.

“It wasn’t the way we wanted to win,” said Ramos. “He was kind of slippery in there.”

Mexico’s Eduardo Ramirez (27-2-3, 12 KOs) out-slugged his way past Puerto Rico’s Luis Melendez (17-2, 13 KOs) in a super competitive super featherweight battle to win by majority decision after 10 rounds.

Ramirez, a southpaw, used a body attack to score heavily against the counter-punching, sharp-shooter Melendez. Few rounds were clear cut but Ramirez was the more aggressive fighter. Scores were 95-95, 96-94, 98-92 for Ramirez.

Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / SHOWTIME

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