Good, bad, worse: Gervonta Davis overcomes adversity, Vasiliy Lomachenko is back

A critical look at the past week in boxing

GOOD

Gervonta Davis didn’t just deliver another memorable knockout on Saturday in Atlanta. He overcame adversity to do it, which made it more compelling.

We all knew that Davis made a bold move by jumping up two weight classes to fight capable Mario Barrios at State Farm Arena. In spite of that, not many expected Barrios to push Davis as hard as he did before the fight ended in Round 11.

Barrios used his height, reach, ability and determination to frustrate Davis much of the fight. Even after Barrios went down twice in Round 8, he had a strong Round 9 and the fight still seemed to be in the balance.

Davis (25-0, 24 KOs) was in a tough spot, which is why Floyd Mayweather, his promoter, gave him a pep talk between rounds late in the fight.

In the end, Davis met the challenge with his not-so-secret weapon, his punching power. The southpaw essentially ended the fight with a left uppercut to the body that put Barrios (26-1, 17 KOs) down in Round 11. Barrios, badly hurt, got up, took one more shot against the ropes and the fight was stopped.

Dramatic fight, dramatic ending.

Davis showed us what he typically does, his punch accuracy, his defensive skills and his power, among other things. He added mental toughness to the mix out of necessity, which makes him a more complete fighter than we might’ve realized.

That might not be good news for those between 130 and 140 pounds.

“He has the potential to be one of the greatest ever,” Mayweather said. “When I first met ‘Tank,’ when he was 14 or 15 years old, I told him I’d make him a world champion and that you’ll be one of the best someday. I’m proud of him.”

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BAD

The only thing “bad” about Vasiliy Lomachenko these days is that many seemed to have written him off after his unanimous-decision loss to Teofimo Lopez in October.

Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) was strangely inactive in the first half of that fight but rallied to make it competitive, although he lost by a wide margin. Afterward, he said he entered the fight with a right-shoulder injury that affected his performance.

I don’t usually buy into excuses but I don’t believe he was lying, particularly in light of the fact he had surgery shortly afterward.

Still, the No. 1 fighter in the world according to some outlets – including Boxing Junkie – was said to be in decline at only 32 years old (now 33). Suddenly, people were talking about lightweights Lopez, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney, not Lomachenko.

Well, Lomachenko demonstrated against Masayoshi Nakatani on Saturday that he’s far from finished. He outclassed his Japanese opponent, broke him down and stopped him in the ninth round.

OK, Nakatani (19-2, 13 KOs) isn’t a top-tier fighter, which limits our ability to read into Lomachenko’s performance. That said, he’s a big, strong lightweight who had knocked out Felix Verdejo in his previous fight. And he went the distance with Lopez last year.

Nakatani is a good fighter. And Lomachenko, looking much like the boxing wizard he has always been, made him look foolish for eight-plus rounds.

I hope he gets a rematch with Lopez. Who would win? I would pick Lomachenko.

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WORSE

Jeison Rosario is a living example of how success in boxing can be fleeting.

The hard-punching Dominican burst onto the world scene by stopping Julian Williams in five rounds to win two junior middleweight titles in January of last year. He was an overnight sensation, one that figured to evolve into a true star.

Then everything went south.

Jermell Charlo knocked him out in eight rounds to unify three titles last September. And on the Davis-Barrios card Saturday Erickson Lubin took him out in six as a result of body blows, giving Rosario back-to-back losses and an uncertain future.

Rosario (20-3-1, 14 KOs) probably made a mistake by jumping into a difficult fight immediately after the devastating setback against Charlo. Lubin, a first-round knockout victim of Charlo in 2017, got it right. He eased back into elite competition, a strategy that culminated in his victory on Saturday.

The damage is done, though. Is Rosario, only 26, a one-hit wonder who will fade into history? Or will he somehow overcome his back-to-back disasters and become an elite fighter again?

The former seems more likely. Rosario is a good boxer who can hurt anyone, as he demonstrated against Lubin (24-1, 17 KOs). However, he seems to have a glaring weakness: the ability to take body shots. Charlo also stopped him with a punch to the gut.

Bottom line: Rosario and his team have a lot of work to do if he hopes to become a major player again.

Lubin? Kudos to him. He demonstrated what he was made of by overcoming his setback against Charlo to reach the pinnacle of his division. He would seem to be first in line to challenge the winner of the Charlo-Brian Castano on July 17.

I wonder about his chin, particularly after he seemed to be rocked by a jab on Saturday, but his overall game is formidable. He could beat anyone at his best.

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RABBIT PUNCHES

Barrios deserves respect after his performance on Saturday. All three judges somehow had Davis well ahead on the scorecards after 10 rounds – 97-91 (seven rounds to three), 96-92 and 96-92 – but I had it 94-94 and Davis admitted afterward that he thought he was losing late in the fight. In fact, Barrios, a significant underdog in spite of whatever size advantage he might’ve had, fought one the sports’ most-gifted stars on roughly even terms. And when things got dicey for him beginning in Round 8, when he went down twice, he demonstrated the kind of courage and resilience fans love. He certainly didn’t want to quit in the end. “Of course I wanted to continue. I got up for a reason,” Barrios said. “I told everybody that I was going to show the Azteca Warrior that I am.” I think Barrios’ stock improved in a losing cause. … The Davis-Barrios fight was unusual in one sense: It was exciting even though the principals combined to throw only 690 punches, 57.5 per round. Davis’ early frustration, the knockdowns, Barrios’ resilience and the final stoppage added up to one of the better fights of the year. …

News item: Paradigm Sports Management is suing Manny Pacquiao for alleged breach of contract, which could threaten Pacquiao’s scheduled fight against Errol Spence Jr. on Aug. 21. The company, which handles Conor McGregor, insists it had a contractual right to negotiate Pacquiao’s next two fights. Paradigm believed that Pacquiao and Mikey Garcia were near a deal to fight one another when Pacquiao, evidently working with other advisors, decided to fight Spence instead. Paradigm is seeking millions of dollars in damages and an injunction to stop the Pacquiao-Spence fight from taking place. My guess is that Pacquiao might have to pay off Paradigm but who knows? We were surprised when Tyson Fury was forced to fight Deontay Wilder a third time. … Flyweight titleholder Julio Cesar Martinez said after his knockout victory over Joel Cordova on Saturday at he wants to unify titles at 112 pounds before moving up to 115, where the likes of Roman Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada reside. That probably makes sense because he probably wouldn’t get a shot at the junior bantamweight stars until next year anyway. Why not try to unify at 112 and continue to build your brand? … I was surprised to hear Showtime describe Crimea as Crimea, Russia on its telecast. The majority of the international community considers Crimea a Russian-occupied region of Ukraine.