Gervonta Davis vs. Mario Barrios – PPV Card Officially Announced

4-time world champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis will tackle a career-defining problem as he units his sights on capturing a title in a 3rd weight class when he faces undefeated WBA Tremendous Light-weight Champion Mario “El Azteca” Barrios in a SHOWTIME PPV predominant occasion Saturday, June 26 on the award-winning State Farm Area in Atlanta in an occasion offered by Premier Boxing Champions.

The pay-per-view undercard will characteristic a battle of two prime 154-pound contenders as Erickson “Hammer” Lubin faces former unified champion Jeison Rosario in a WBC Tremendous Welterweight Title Eliminator within the co-main occasion. Former unified tremendous welterweight champion Julian “J-Rock” Williams returns to the ring for the primary time in 18 months to tackle Brian Mendoza in a 10-round showdown and hard-hitting Olympian Batyr Akhmedov steps in towards former world champion Argenis Mendez in a 12-round WBA Tremendous Light-weight Title Eliminator to kick off the pay-per-view telecast at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Tickets for the stay occasion at State Farm Area, which is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, GTD Promotions and TGB Promotions, go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. ET, and may be bought at ticketmaster.com. The Akhmedov vs. Mendez battle is promoted in affiliation with World of Boxing.

Certainly one of boxing’s greatest stars at simply 26-years-old, Davis strikes as much as 140-pounds for the primary time in his profession as he goals so as to add tremendous light-weight champion to his stellar resume. Davis has already captured titles at 130 and 135-pounds. With a victory, Davis will maintain world championships in three totally different divisions concurrently, a feat solely achieved by a couple of fighters in historical past, together with Henry Armstrong and Canelo Alvarez. Standing in his method is the undefeated 25-year-old Barrios, who owns a 9-0 report with eight knockouts throughout his 140-pound reign whereas holding a six-inch top benefit over Davis.

Davis (24-0, 23 KOs) delivered a highlight-reel knockout in his final battle, producing one other sensational and memorable efficiency that has made him a preferred draw all through the nation. Davis stopped four-division champion Leo Santa Cruz with one highly effective uppercut in that October 2020 battle and put Santa Cruz down and out for the primary time in his illustrious profession. Promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Davis will make his second headline look on pay-per-view as he has asserted himself as a must-see headline attraction in his first pay-per-view

Davis first burst onto the scene with an explosive knockout victory over Jose Pedraza to win the IBF Junior Light-weight World Title in a star-making efficiency on SHOWTIME® in January 2017. On the time, he grew to become the youngest world champion in boxing at age 22. The Baltimore-native additionally owns knockout performances in world title fights over Jesus Cuellar in 2018 and Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2019. The 2019 overcome Gamboa got here at a bought out State Farm Area, throughout a 12 months that additionally noticed him fill venues in his hometown of Baltimore and Southern California.

Barrios (26-0, 17 KOs) captured his 140-pound championship in September 2019, scoring two knockdowns and preventing by way of a minimize to win a unanimous choice over beforehand unbeaten Batyr Akhmedov. The San Antonio-native trains in Oakland, Calif., underneath the steering of famend coach Virgil Hunter. In his most up-to-date outing, Barrios knocked out Ryan Karl within the sixth-round of their conflict on the pay-per-view undercard of Davis vs. Santa Cruz.

Standing almost six-feet tall, Barrios debuted as a professional at tremendous bantamweight in 2013 and had success shifting up the rankings within the tremendous featherweight division. His first 140-pound bout got here in 2017 and noticed him enhance his energy from his earlier performances. At tremendous light-weight, Barrios has scored knockouts in each battle besides the title-winning efficiency towards Akhmedov, the place his energy was nonetheless on show with a pair of knockdowns.

The 25-year-old Lubin (23-1, 16 KOs) has put collectively a formidable five-bout successful streak since a loss to unified 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo in 2017. In his most up-to-date outing, he defeated U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha by unanimous choice in September of final 12 months. Previous to the victory over Gausha, he grew to become the primary individual to cease former champion Ishe Smith, along with a dominating victory over Nathaniel Gallimore in October 2019. A local of Orlando, Fla., Lubin is educated by acclaimed coach Kevin Cunningham as he continues his quest towards one other title alternative. After a stellar newbie profession, Lubin turned professional at 18 years previous in 2013, finally being named “Prospect Of The 12 months” by ESPN and Ring Journal in 2016.

Rosario (20-2-1, 14 KOs) will look to climb again into world title rivalry after shedding his 154-pound belts to Jermell Charlo of their September 2020 conflict. The 26-year-old captured the WBA and IBF belts by stopping Julian Williams in one in all 2020’s greatest upsets. Born within the Dominican Republic and now preventing out of Miami, Rosario rode an eight-fight unbeaten streak into the showdown with Williams, together with victories over 154-pound contenders Jamontay Clark, Justin DeLoach, Jorge Cota and Marcos Hernandez. Coming into the Charlo matchup, Rosario had established his energy by incomes a stoppage victory or scoring a knockdown in seven of his earlier 9 contests.

Philadelphia’s Williams (27-2-1, 16 KOs) grew to become a unified world champion at 154-pounds in Might 2019 when he upset Jarrett Hurd in one of many 12 months’s finest fights, successful a close-quarters brawl by unanimous choice. The 31-year-old dropped the titles in his first protection, shedding to Jeison Rosario in January 2020. Williams had been driving a five-fight successful streak going into the Rosario matchup, by which he added victories over former champion Ishe Smith and hard-hitting contender Nathaniel Gallimore to his ledger.

Mendoza (19-1, 13 KOs) earned a profession best-victory in his final outing, beating veteran contender Thomas LaManna by unanimous choice in August 2020. The 27-year-old has fought professionally since 2014, along with his solely defeat coming by a slim split-decision in November 2019 towards Larry Gomez. Mendoza was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the place he gained two New Mexico Golden Gloves Championships as an newbie, and at present fights out of Las Vegas.

Born in Uzbekistan and now preventing out of Los Angeles, Akhmedov (8-1, 7 KOs) represented Turkey on the 2016 Olympic video games. The 30-year-old turned professional in 2017 and gained his first seven professional fights, with six coming by knockout. His lone blemish got here in an action-packed title battle towards Mario Barrios in September 2019, the place he was capable of survive two knockdowns to make it a detailed battle, earlier than finally shedding by choice. Most not too long ago, Akhmedov blasted out Ray Perez within the first spherical of their September 2020 conflict.

A former tremendous featherweight champion, Mendez (25-6-3, 12 KOs) has a popularity for offering stiff challenges to the game’s finest and has confirmed to be a sturdy contender at 140-pounds, together with his most up-to-date outing that noticed him drop a split-decision to Richardson Hitchins final December. In 2019, Mendez fought to back-to-back attracts towards tremendous light-weight contenders Anthony Peterson and Juan Heraldez. Born in San Juan de La Maguana, Dominican Republic, Mendez now fights out of Yonkers, N.Y. and owns victories over Eddie Ramirez, Ivan Redkach and former titlist Miguel Vazquez. He has additionally gone toe-to-toe with former champions Rances Barthelemy and Robert Easter Jr.