Gervonta Davis vs Frank Martin fight results: Highlights from Tank Davis' knockout win (PO)

Gervonta “Tank” Davis is back – and as good as ever. Davis defended his WBA lightweight title by knocking out Frank “The Ghost” Martin in the eighth round of their fight Saturday night.

Davis had a 14-month layoff between fights, but that had no impact on his power. He dropped Martin with a devastating left hand to improve to 30-0 while Martin fell to 18-1. Davis had not fought since knocking out Ryan Garcia in April 2023, the longest break of his career.

In the early rounds, Martin eluded Davis with impressive footwork. But Davis said he wasn’t bothered.

“I knew he was going to tire down,” Davis said during an in-ring interview after the fight. “So that’s why I was just standing there, be a target for him just so he could tire himself out. And once he tired himself out, you know me, I started picking him apart.”

During the post-fight interview, Davis watched the final blows of the eighth round – a left uppercut that rocked Martin followed by a left cross that finished him off.

“Boom,” Davis exulted gleefully as he watched a replay of the punches, which resulted in a knockout at 1:29 of the eighth round.

Martin said he understood Davis’ strategy – to let Martin tire himself out. In fact, Martin said he’d slowed down to try to keep that from happening. Of course, there’s a reason Davis has 28 knockouts in 30 fights.

“He came in and landed a big shot and it was a shot I didn’t see,” Martin said.

Davis said he felt “a little rusty,” as though he hadn’t warmed up completely in the early rounds. “But it’s OK, I’m back,” he said.

Shakur Stevenson reacts to Gervonta Davis’ knockout win

Ryan Garcia, Gervonta Davis hug ringside after Davis’ knockout win

Ryan Garcia, who was knocked out by Gervonta Davis in April 2023, greeted Davis ringside after his KO of Frank Martin. The two embraced and chatted, sharing laughs and smiles. Garcia also showed off his shirt, which read “Tank’s #1 fan” on the front and “Rematch me (expletive)!” on the back.

Caleb Plant throws beer on Ryan Garcia at Gervonta Davis fight

Davis vs. Martin round-by-round analysis

Round 1: Frank Martin fires first, with both hands. Davis creeping forward, finally lets his fists fly. Martin connects, repeatedly now, and appeared to stun Davis with a left. Martin 10, Davis 9.
Round 2: Davis moving in behind that high guard. Martin unloads, but most of the punches miss. Davis lands a big shot to the body. Swings wildly. Martin clearly respecting Davis’ power and scores. Martin 20, Davis 18.
Round 3: Davis again the aggressor, and Martin flinches as if it fear of the KO punch. The crowd laughs. Davis stalking, looks dangerous without even throwing a punch. Martin lands a right, stops Davis in his tracks. Albeit briefly. Martin 30, Davis 27.
Round 4: Martin doing his best to keep Davis at bay. Ducking, backpedaling and punches. Davis throws a haymaker. Will one finally land? Martin ducking and dodging again, and landing punches too. But Davis lands a couple of withering body punches, and Martin feels it. Looks a little scared. Martin 39, Davis 37.
Round 5: Davis corners Martin. Not sure how long Martin can run from Davis and those granite gloves. Davis lands and Martin counters. Martin doing a reasonable good job of evading Davis. Davis smiles as Martin escapes as the round ends. Martin 49, Davis 46.
Round 6: Martin still displaying good footwork and combinations – and avoiding Davis’ signature punch. Davis now cornering Martin, and landing some, too. A big left. But Martin fires back and backs up Davis. Martin 58, Davis 56.
Round 7: Martin pops Davis with a nice jab to open the round. Davis lands a vicious body punch and Martin twirls away. He counters with a combo. Davis lands a couple of hard punches and, boy, that clock is ticking slow for Martin. The seconds feel like minutes as Davis loads up. Martin stunned by a right. Martin 67, Davis 66.
Round 8: Martin turning aggressive in the center of the ring. But Davis pushing forward again. Down goes Martin! A huge left from Davis! It’s over!

Why did Tank Davis go to jail? Boxer speaks on his incarceration

Gervonta Davis’ 14-month layoff was more than a vacation.

Last summer he served 44 days in a detention center after pleading guilty to a hit-and-run crash that injured four people, including a pregnant woman.

“It made me a better person, just patience and things like that,” Davis told Jim Gray during a post-fight interview. “Stuff happening in life where you got to go through it and not trying to get around it.

“It just made me a better person, it made me a better father, it made me a better everything.”