Gervonta Davis scored a destructive eleventh-round knockout of Mario Barrios after Floyd Mayweather’s inspirational words in his last fight.
In June, the world super featherweight champion (130 pounds) climbed two divisions to compete for the WBA’s lesser “regular” welterweight belt (140 pounds), facing a strong undefeated fighter at Barrios.
Floyd told his Mayweather Promotions protege he was behind on the unofficial card
The first two laps were “feel” sessions with the two men cautious from the start.
The action started to heat up in the third when Barrios found a home for his right hand, prompting an aggressive response from Gervonta.
However, the fight then settled into a pattern that seemed to suit Barrios more than the popular young star.
The smaller one didn’t push the pace too much, allowing the larger one to effectively use their size from a distance.
Barrios repeatedly used his right hand on the head and body, which kept Davis at bay.
At the start of the second half, Gervonta started to close the gap and had more success in the seventh.
Then, in the eighth round, he made the breakthrough.
A massive right hook at the temple sent Barrios snapping through the ring and up to the web.
With two minutes remaining in the round, Davis continued the knockout finish and again put Barrios to the ground with a right-to-left.
He pretty much made it out.
Barrios hit back well in the ninth round, prompting Floyd Mayweather to tell Gervonta he was behind on Showtime’s unofficial scoreboard.
A stunned Davis couldn’t believe his ears and came out with more determination in the tenth, once again knocking down Barrios with big hooks from the left.
And then, on lap 11, Gervonta crushed Barrios with a left uppercut to the body that knocked him down for the third time.
He got to his feet, but was staggered again and the referee stopped the fight.
“I made it tough, but that’s what it is,” Davis said after the fight
“I put on the weight and got the job done.
“I’m the kind of fighter, I want to catch you with clean shots. Most of them were missing, but eventually I caught up with him.
“I knew if I caught it, I would crack. When I caught it, it showed …
“Floyd told me I was depressed, he said, ‘Show me you’re awesome. “”
