Floyd Mayweather and Gervonta Davis at 29 – no comparison

Gervonta Davis is similar age Floyd Mayweather was when his mentor modified his life without end. WBN compares the 2 proficient fighters at 29.

Davis is a two-weight world champion by default regardless of some round him claiming he’s a three-weight ruler. ‘Tank’ is a three-time world titleholder with two reigns at 130 and his present one at 135.

Regardless of holding the WBA light-weight title at the moment, Davis by no means wished the belt. When Devin Haney dropped the strap, the World Boxing Affiliation handed it to him because the ‘common’ champion. On the time, Davis made it clear he didn’t wish to win a championship that approach.

Nonetheless, Davis would solely be a two-time tremendous featherweight champion and ruling in a single weight class with out it. Examine that to Mayweather, who, simply after his twenty ninth birthday, unified the welterweight division in opposition to Zab Judah to develop into a four-weight world champion.

Floyd Mayweather and Gervonta Davis at 29

At 29-0 with 27-0 knockouts, there’s little question that Davis is without doubt one of the finest pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. Nonetheless, these comparisons to Mayweather not maintain up. Davis is competing in an period when inactivity is killing careers. It’s unlikely he’ll ever get wherever close to Mayweather’s 50-0 excellent benchmark.

When Mayweather defeated Judah to maneuver to 36-0 with 24 KOs, his legacy was already assured as he headed in the direction of a collision with Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. A victory in that match-up would elevate Mayweather to the primary P4P spot and crown him as the brand new Pay Per View king.

At current, Davis is way from touchdown that spot till he faces the most effective in his division and past.

It’s a well-documented story of how Mayweather moved to manage his personal future on the identical age Davis is now. He purchased himself from his contract with Bob Arum for $750,000 and signed a brand new cope with supervisor Al Haymon.

On the time, Mayweather mentioned: “Floyd Mayweather has by no means been struggling. Let’s clear that up proper now. Me and Al Haymon joined forces. He noticed not only a fighter however an individual. He’s very articulate, and Al’s sensible inside and outside of the ring. I had executed good numbers earlier than Al Haymon, however after we got here collectively, we had a recreation plan, after which every thing got here to be.”

No extra Fairly Boy

Mayweather dropped his ‘Fairly Boy’ persona in favor of ‘Cash’ as a logo of controlling his personal future. Davis, who hasn’t fought in a 12 months and frolicked in jail, remains to be beneath a cloud after public slants in opposition to Mayweather that have been rapidly deleted in his customary approach.

A struggle with Frank Martin is lined up for the summer time, however as soon as once more, it gained’t be sufficient to push Davis any larger up the P4P ladder. Followers have gotten disillusioned with the very fact Davis hasn’t fought any of the highest guys at 135, with Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, and Shakur Stevenson getting bored with ready.

Of the ‘Tremendous Six’ WBN labeled in 2021, Davis has confronted one in Ryan Garcia. The opposite two, Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr., will face off for the vacant IBF title subsequent month. Davis going through Martin places an on the spot block on the potential unification as Davis stays astray to ever take management as the most effective fighter on the planet.

Mayweather took that place in 2007 and didn’t look again. It solely took a semi-retirement to knock him off his perch when Manny Pacquiao took over in 2010. Even then, Mayweather returned with a half-a-billion-dollar Showtime contract that positioned him again as the highest participant within the sport.

In distinction, Davis is way from being within the combine with Naoya Inoue, Terence Crawford, Oleksandr Usyk, and Canelo as this era’s high stars. He might earn higher paychecks than all his rivals, however till he begins knocking them off one after the other, the Baltimore man must be content material with being an in-house star beneath one banner, like Mayweather was throughout his time with High Rank.

It’s time for Gervonta Davis to step up and take management of his legacy.

The views expressed on this article are the opinions of Phil Jay. Learn more and read all articles from the skilled boxing author.

Comply with WBN: X.com, Facebook, Instagram, Blue Sky, and Threads.