The greatest stories to watch before Gervonta Davis vs Isaac Cruz and Devin Haney vs Joseph Diaz

From a freshly loaded Saturday full of dramatic fights that felt like a shot in the arm to the overall viability of the sport, boxing is back in a big way this weekend with a couple of major events focused on light weight rich talent.

Gervonta “Tank” Davis continues his march to the superstardom on Sunday’s Showtime paid ticket against Isaac Cruz’s late replacement in the 135-pound WBA “regular” title. One night earlier, WBC champion Devin Haney, who will have a difficult defense of the undefeated title, enters DAZN’s former 130-pound belt owner Joseph Diaz Jr.

Considering the former unified champion Teofimo Lopez Jr. lost to George Cambosos Jr. last week, there is no shortage of stories surrounding the division in general. Let’s see what to look for.

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1. George Kambosos Jr. the draw is about to heat up

Suppose last weekend the boxer didn’t hear a phrase. But the Australian-born undefeated Kanbosos gave a performance in the middle age, surviving a late fall, to overcome the pound-pound position in a fight that seemed not as tight as Lopez’s decision. indicated scorecards. The outcome of the fight was the result of overcoming the Cambodians or not Lopez forming an epic turn of self-destructive behavior (both inside and outside the ring) is irrelevant to the future. As a free agent in the U.S., it is Kambosos who is now calling for his next fight. Although Kanbosos has said that Haney, as things stand today, is the next pioneer in the fight (if Haney defeats Diaz on Saturday), the reality is that he is likely to fight Kambosos ’promoters and / or network ponies. money.

From that perspective, this weekend’s pair of slight bends could turn into a test for the winners of both fights to give the new joint title a reason to challenge. Haney, the WBC champion, makes good sense as a precedent, thanks to the added strength that Kanbosos can bring to fight for the undisputed title. In any case, the future is clear in light weight, as Kambosos is unlikely to find a bridge between a group of leading young fighters, thanks to their attitude and politics, who still do not have to share the ring with each other.

2. Gervonta Davis ’replacement opponent is a mere renewal

Whether it’s injuries, weight problems, or drug testing failures, boxing isn’t a stranger when a big fight falls through a last-minute mess and a replacement opponent is called. Strange, however, the substitute is a better fighter than the original opponent. Davis ’return to the PPV on Sunday was initially expected to be against the tough Rolando Romero thanks to“ Rolly ”in a match that wouldn’t miss a junk talk and weird moments, but not necessarily a fight that hard fans expected. it would be uncompetitive at all. It led to the complete elimination of many of the bad press related to the accusation of many sexual assaults against Romero from the fight. The good news, however, is that Cruz, a rugged Mexican slugger who has not been defeated in his last 18 fights, is a much more viable opponent. Cruz, 23, who is nicknamed “Pitbull,” is expected to put pressure on Davis ’talent, just as the raw Romero is simply not prepared to come out. Make no mistake, Cruz comes in as a big betting trick, but he’s skilled and aggressive enough to get Davis to punch and fight.

3. How much longer will Davis pound universal pounding praises?

There was a not-so-distant narrative in the past when “Tank” was regularly criticized for being the protected face of Mayweather Promotions and constantly looking for easy opponents (and the key word: smaller ones) to come by weight. Of course, Davis has not always been his biggest advocate from a public relations standpoint to fight these criticisms, constant legal issues outside the ring and a very uninspired performance (after losing his 130-pound world title on the scales) to the team. The 2017 Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor main event was conspired to turn into a boxing villain. But Davis has done well fixing much of his popularity lately, at least from an inner-ring perspective, looking for big fights and proving to be a consistent equalizer at every step of the ladder, given his exciting passion for the playoffs.

Just look at Davis ’last three fights as a sign of his ambition as he won titles in three different weight classes in a row. Among those spectacular conquests was Davis ’first defeat to multi-team champion Leo Santa Cruz through a wild one-stroke knockout. And in his next fight in June, Davis gained 140 pounds for the first time in the 11th round of the full-action thriller to stop undefeated Mario Barrios. If you look at the P4P lists of major publications, 27-year-old Davis is usually on the outside looking inward. Sometimes, in a P4P vote, an eye test can be as important as who a fighter has faced and what he or she has done. got it. In Davis’s case, he has shown over the past year how he has evolved his craft from defense and head movement to his ability to box. Will a victory against Cruz prove to be Davis’s moment of progress to provoke universal respect that he is truly adept at, in ways that his extraordinary percentage of elimination does not always explain? Only time will tell.

4. How should we deal with the end of Devin Haney’s last fight?

At 23, there’s little doubt that Haney has the assets to be the future of the 135-pound division, let alone the sport in general. But his challenge against former champion Jorge Linares in May offered critics as much as a demonstration of his overall talent to give him a few moments to breathe in the tournament rounds. Haney, who was criticized for how passively he acted in a whitening of Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2020, wanted to make a late statement by pushing the pace against Linares. But the veteran shooter shook with clean shots and forced Haney to spend the last two rounds hard to survive. Was this just a gap in the young boxer-drill’s strong performance? Or a little predictor of the potential catastrophe that may come when Haney finally draws elites like Davis, Lopez, Ryan Garcia or Vasiliy Lomachenko? It’s too early to tell. Wait for the aggressive Diaz to try to find that answer in the beginning which should be a fun shootout.

5. Paging Ryan Garcia

The man who has been somewhat forgotten in the overall lightweight photo for 2021 has been 23-year-old Garcia, who came out on the expected summer return against Javier Fortuna to focus on his mental health. Zen then scheduled to take on JoJo Diaz on November 27th, came out of that fight after suffering a hand injury in training. Garcia passed the biggest test of his career to open the year by lifting Luke Campbell from the playoffs and the bright sensation of social media has been quiet lately, except that he entered his name in last week’s draw at Kanbosos. Because of such promotions and networking affiliations that don’t see a team of such a talented lightweight fight against each other, Garcia and Haney both fight on the same platform and have a long history after being with each other. it was released six times in the amateurs. Will Garcia be in Las Vegas to fight Haney Diaz? While it’s understandable that both fighters are interested in tackling Cambodia, given that the titles at stake and both are likely to win, there’s no reason not to sit down with the respective promoters to come up with a plan for their succession. eventually joining as a professional.