GERVONTA DAVIS KO8 FRANCISCO FONSECA: Weight issues and a controversial final punch further mired Gervonta Davis’s eighth-round KO over Francisco Fonseca. Davis, who was stripped of vhis IBF junior lightweight title for missing weight by two pounds, looked lethargic throughout the bout. His offense wasn’t consistent and attempts to showboat with his hands behind his back fell flat.
Fonseca had limited success by roughing up Davis in the later rouns However, Davis’s power surfaced in round eight. He stunned Fonseca with a counter straight left. While going in for the finish, a cuffing shot hit Fonseca behind the head. He went down, but the ref ruled the punch legal and counted him out.
Davis apologized for his showing and vowed to pick up more titles from 130-135
BADOU JACK TKO5 NATHAN CLEVERLY: TMT now has a two-division world champion. Badou Jack picked up the WBA light-heavyweight title in impressive fashion by carving up Nathan Cleverly over mostly one-sided rounds.
While noticeably the smaller man inside the ring, Jack’s offense loomed large as he punished Cleverly in the pocket with combinations to the body. Cleverly was noticeably slowing down by the fourth round as Jack diversified his attack with power shots upstairs that bloodied Cleverly’s nose.
A barrage of unanswered head shots in the fifth was all Tony Weeks needed to see to call off the bout.
Jack looked FANTASTIC, and its even more impressive that he did this in his light-heavyweight debut. Now that Jack holds the WBA strap, anyone interested in a unification matchup with new division kingpin Andre Ward?
TABITI UD10 CUNNINGHAM: A 14-year age gap was too much for the veteran to overcome. 41-year old former title-holder Steve Cunningham was aggressive, but a step-behind too often to defeat Andrew Tabiti, who won a wide unanimous decision (100-90 and 97-93 twice).
At one point in the sixth, Cunningham grew frustrated with Tabiti holding him inside and yelled to the ref “C’mon man, he isn’t fighting!” While Tabiti’s strategy wasn’t electrifying, he was able to land repeated right hands off the backfoot and elude any return fire by holding or moving away. This played out in the later rounds when the quicker Tabiti took advantage of Cunningham’s desperation to land eye-catching uppercuts and right hands during exchanges.
At this stage of his career, Cunningham was too plodding to bother Tabiti down the stretch. And now with his ninth defeat and 16 years of mileage, Cunningham will have to seriously consider retirement.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 