Headlining a mammoth card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Gervonta Davis impressed once again, defending his WBA lightweight title with a brutal eighth-round knockout of previously undefeated Frank Martin.

Davis (30-0, 28 KO) entered this fight as a pound-for-pound star but looking for the fight that would define his career, although he had the opportunity to knock out Ryan Garcia in the seventh round in their April meeting in the seventh round. Martin (18-1, 12 KO) deserved a shot at the world championship after scoring points in his match against Artem Harutyunyan last July, but here he faced a arduous task.

Martin boxed well in the tranquil opening, but Davis took it upon himself and let his hands go ‘Ghost’ feel its power.

The 29-year-old could have been elated with a solid third place, but ‘Tank’ he showed his strength once again in the fourth period, landing several challenging punches towards the end of the frame.

The first half was a tight one, but Davis started to turn the screw and upped the ante with some huge shots in the seventh half that preceded the end of the inning later.

The Baltimore player caught Martin with a challenging left uppercut and then delivered a great left hand that flattened the challenger so that he was unable to get back to his feet.

Benavidez defeats Gvozdyk

On the undercard, David Benavidez he made his debut in the lightweight heavyweight division and won the interim WBC belt after a points victory over former WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KO).

Scores of 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112 gave Benavidez (29-0, 24 KO) a decisive victory.

Puello shocks Russell

Alberto Puello surprised by winning the interim WBC super lightweight belt, securing a split decision victory over Gary Antuanne Russell.

Puello (23-0, 10 KO) was deducted two points for holding on during the fight, and one judge awarded the fight 118-109 to Russell (17-1, 17 KO), but was rejected by the other two judges, who saw it 115-109. 112 and 114-113.

Adames defended his world title

Carlos Adames made a successful first defense of his WBC middleweight title, beating Terrell Gausha (24-4-1, 12 KO) by a huge score.

Adames (24-1, 18 KO) won by one score of 119-109 and two by 118-110.

Undercard remaining

Mark Magsayo (26-2, 17 KO) won the vacant WBA Intercontinental super featherweight title by defeating Eduardo Ramirez (28-4-3, 13 KO) and Kyrone Davis (19-3-1, 6 KO) upset Elijah Garcia ( 16 -1, 13 KO) during a middleweight match, taking a split decision, winning in ten rounds.

Daniel Blancas (10-0, 5 KO) needed less than a round to defeat Aro Schwartz (23-8-1, 15 KO) in the super middleweight, and Justin Viloria (6-0, 4 KO) defeated Angel Antonio Contreras (15-9-2, 9 KO) in the fifth of six rounds in the super featherweight division.

Margaret Whitmore (3-0, KO0) defeated Mia Ellis (7-3, KO6) on points in four rounds in the super featherweight division, and debutant Brayan Gonzalez (1-0) scored a knockout and won all four rounds in the super bantamweight division with James Mulder (0-2).

Featherweight Reina Tellez (8-0, 5 KO) defeated Beata Dudek (4-2, 4 KO) in four rounds on points.