LAS VEGAS — Gervonta Davis packed the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday in his first appearance in 14 months, then caused a frenzy with a vicious knockout.

Davis (30-0, 28 KO) knocked out Frank Martin with a left hand at 1:29 of the eighth round, successfully defending the WBA lightweight world championship. It was Davis’ first fight since his equally stunning knockout of Ryan Garcia in April 2023. It was also his first appearance since he spent 44 days in a Baltimore jail last summer for violating house arrest following a November 2020 hit-and-run accident that injured four people.

“Yes, there is some rust, but everything is fine. I’m back,” Davis said. “After a few rounds, I feel like I haven’t warmed up completely like I wanted to. I warmed up but got frosty as the fight unfolded in front of me. But it is OK. No excuses”.

At the time of the break, all three judges had Davis leading 67-66. Martin actually won the first three rounds, but it was all Davis the rest of the way.

Davis took his time early, taking Martin in stride, but rarely getting open with his notorious power. However, he began to settle in Round 4 and his power had a noticeable effect on Martin. The athlete reacted sharply to several of Davis’ feints, which drew laughter from both Davis and the 13,249 spectators who paid to witness his return.

A knockout seemed inevitable in the seventh set as Martin continued to drift away from the fight and found himself trapped in a corner. Davis maintained constant pressure and expertly chose his spots. He hit good body shots in the fourth round and brought the crowd to their feet in the sixth, seventh and eighth rounds.

Davis finished with a combination of a left uppercut and a straight left hand along the ropes. It was a befitting result for what was promoted as the 100th championship fight at MGM.

After knocking out Martin, Davis climbed the ropes and performed a backflip to celebrate.

“Boom, that was it,” Davis said of the left hand that ended the fight. “The brick just ended it. I’ve been training for 7 years and competing for 8. Do you know what I mean? It’s like second nature, you know what I mean? It’s just about staying focused and making sure my mind is on the goal, and that always comes out on top.”

Martin admitted that a lack of movement in the later rounds led to the knockout, although it didn’t seem like he was really able to escape Davis’ pressure. At first he was moving away from Davis’ threatening left hand, but as Davis noticeably began to raise his volume, Martin had no answer.

“At first I felt like I was in control, but then I got too comfortable,” Martin said. “I felt comfortable relaxing on the ropes, trying to find a bigger shot. He didn’t present himself. I stopped making my moves. … He came in and made a massive shot and I didn’t make it. See, really, I just didn’t see the shot.

Davis, of Baltimore, will have options for his next fight, including potential meetings with IBF titleholder Vasily Lomachenko, WBC titleholder Shakur Stevenson and WBO titleholder Denys Berinchyk.

Gervonta “Tank” Davis returns from a long absence from the ring to defend her second WBA 135-pound title tonight against Frank Martin in a 12-round main event on PBC on Prime Video PPV. The event starts at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Boxing News 24 will be bringing you live updates and results from today’s Tank vs. Martin.

Debuting at 175, former WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KO) looked sluggish, sluggish and frail, winning by unanimous decision over 12 rounds Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KO) and winning the interim WBC featherlight heavyweight title. The scores were 116-112, 117-111 and 119-119-109.

Boxing News 24 scored 114-114. It wasn’t a huge shock that the judges gave this award to A-team fighter Benavidez with high marks because he is the one receiving a huge push to become the next “face of boxing” and this put Gwozdyk in a hard situation where he had to dominate to have a chance at winning.

In fact, it should have been a draw and Benavidez was lucky to score today because he was terrible.

Benavidez was completely gassed midway through the fight, and by the seventh round he was exhausted by the 37-year-old Gvozdyk. Early in the fight, Benavidez’s speed and punch combination allowed him to dominate the sluggish former WBC champion, but his power wasn’t available at all.

By the sixth game, Benavidez looked exhausted and from that point on, Gvozdyk attacked him. With the victory, Benavidez is now the WBC’s mandatory fighter for champion Artur Beterbiev’s title shot and will face the winner of his undisputed clash with Dmitry Bivol.

Upset former WBA champion Albert Puello (23-0, 10 KO) defeated a previously undefeated opponent Gary Antuanne Russell (17-1, 17 KO) via 12-round split decision to win the WBC interim 140-pound belt. The judges scored it 118-109 for Russell and 115-112, 114-113 for Puello.

Russell looked leisurely and immobile, which allowed Puello to overwhelm him with combinations and movement.

WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames (24-1, 18 KO) defeated Terrell Gausha (24-4-1, 12 KO), winning by unanimous decision of 12 rounds. The scores were 119-109, 118-110 and 118-110.

Adames hit a lot of huge shots, outperforming the weaker hitter Gausha. Much of the action came from Gausha, but it consisted mostly of jabs and frail shots that had little effect.

Super middleweight veteran Kyron Davis (18-3-1, 6 KO) earned a dubious ten-round split decision victory over the previously undefeated Elijah Garcia (16-1, 13 KOs).

The scores were 99-93, 97-93 for Kyrone and 98-92 for Garcia. Boxing News 24 scored for Garcia 98-92. To Kyrone’s surprise, he won because he spent virtually the entire fight pinned to the ropes.

It was hard to watch Kyrone win more than one or two rounds in the fight as he was receiving punches to the body from Garcia throughout the fight. He seemed unable to fight in the center of the ring against a younger, busier and stronger fighter.

Kyrone fought like an antique veteran, unable to take center stage against a younger fighter, and it was shocking that the judges awarded him the victory by such a high score.

The 21-year-old Garcia outworked PBC fighter Kyrone throughout the fight, holding him to the ropes, landing constant punches to his body and appearing to dominate the action.

In the ninth and 10th sets, Garcia stormed into the fray, hitting the 29-year-old Kyrone with challenging shots to control the action.

Benavidez is targeting the featherlight heavyweight title

The joint fight between David Benavidez and Oleksandr Gvozdyk is slightly more even than the main fight.

Benavidez (28-0, 24 KO), who is confident in his abilities and not afraid to make them known, moves up to 175 pounds for the first time in history to face Gwozdyk (20-1, 16 KO) for the interim title WBC featherlight heavyweight.

The winner of this fight will receive a big-money fight for the undisputed 175 championship, likely in Saudi Arabia. That’s why Benavidez decided to move up from 168 pounds.

Event details and full card

Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas
Start time: 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT.
Ring walks: approximately 11pm ET/4am UK time.

Main card on PBC on Prime Video Pay-Per-View at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT

Gervonta “Tank” Davis vs. Frank Martin
David Benavidez vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk fight
Gary Antuanne Russell vs. Alberto Puello
Carlos Adames Terrell Gausha fight

Preliminary activities at 5:30 PM ET/2:30 PM PT

Elijah Garcia vs. Kyrone Davis
Mark Magsayo Eduardo Ramirez fight
Willa Roiman vs. Ricardo Salas

Fans are curious how Tank Davis (29-0, 27 KO) will fare against his first A-level opponent when he defends against Frank Martin (18-0, 12 KO). These guys are huge hitters with a seek-and-destroy style.

Martin, 29, is back from an 11-month break and looks like he went through a bench press to gain weight on Friday. He will have plenty of time to hydrate before tonight’s fight against Tank Davis in their headliner.

If Davis finishes this fight with an impressive victory, he could next face a unification fight with the IBF lightweight champion.

CHRIS Billam-Smith remains the WBO cruiserweight champion after defeating Richard Riakporhe by 12-round decision. The performance at Selhurst Park wasn’t always pretty, but Chris took revenge for losing to the same fighter by split decision in 2019, taking the fight twice by scores of 116-111 and 115-112.

“Pace is key,” Sky commentator Matthew Macklin said at the start. Riakporhe’s shot was also crucial for him to maintain distance and for Billam-Smith he was looking to get underneath and initiate attacks.

The fight became a close fight as Riakporhe missed the opportunity and allowed Billam-Smith to outwork him.

The champion’s confidence increased around the seventh and eighth rounds as the desperation between Riakporhe in the ring and Angel Fernandez in the corner became more apparent. The challenger responded with some bulky shots in round nine.

Richard landed another demanding right in the 11th, which Billam-Smith absorbed and continued to run forward. Riakporhe had a point deducted in the final round for constantly using his head. Aside from revealing two ridiculously close results, the fight was certainly too much for him at this point.

Billam-Smith performed brilliantly on the pitch and credit goes to him and coach Shane McGuigan for developing and implementing such an effective strategy.

Like many world title challengers before him, Riakporhe will surely look at himself in the mirror on Sunday morning and regret his performance.

Chris Billam-Smith later spoke about what he thought was the difference: “Experience, speed, game plan, Shane is a champion, the best coach in the world,” he said.

“Take me to the States,” Billam-Smith continued, calling for a fight in Vegas, mentioning the name of Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, who defeated Arsen Goulamirian to win the WBA title in March.

“When his back is against the wall, that’s when you see Chris Billam-Smith at his best,” added coach Shane McGuigan. “He won the fight so widely that I was shocked by the scorecards.”

Chris Billam-Smith improved his record to 20-1 (13 KO), while Riakporhe suffered his first career defeat, dropping to 17-1 (13 KO).

Earlier in the evening, Ben Whittaker won a lopsided 10-round points decision over delicate heavyweight Ezra Arenyeka.

Jack Massey won the European and Commonwealth delicate heavyweight titles by defeating Isaac Chamberlain on points.

And Azeeza drew after eight rounds with the unannounced Croatian Hrvoje Sep.