Credit: Amanda Westcott/Showtime
Mayweather Ready To Roll The Dice With Davis
While Gervonta Davis and Floyd Mayweather's relationship the past year has been considered tumultuous, the promoter and his star pupil seem to be on the same page following Davis' second-round stoppage over Ricardo Nunez.
Davis, who headlined a Showtime card in-front of his hometown fans in Baltimore, is looking to take the next step and become a pay-per-view star, something Mayweather is encouraging.
"The ultimate goal is to turn this kid into a pay-per-view star," Mayweather said following Davis' successful super featherweight title defense.
"And if the Tevin Farmer and Tank fight happens, we look forward to our first step on pay-per-view. We don't know how many homes we can do. But Tank fan base is growing, so that'll be Tank's coming-out party for pay-per-view, versus Tevin Farmer. And I'm pretty sure we can do some great numbers. We always believe in our fighters. I'm pretty sure Tevin Farmer team believes in him. So, that'll be our coming-out party. Our next fight, we look forward to doing pay-per-view."
Davis has appeared on the platform once in his last six fights when he knocked out Francisco Fonseca in the eighth round of their featured fight on the Mayweather-McGregor fight in 2017.
In what could have been a star turn for the Maryland born boxer, Davis lost his title on the scale a day before the card at the T-Mobile Arena.
Looking at Davis' development and where he stands in the boxing world, Mayweather is willing to take a risk and give Davis the platform to become a multi-millionaire.
"Life is about chances and rolling the dice," Mayweather said. "What happened with me, I could've fought pay-per-view a long time [before I did against Arturo Gatti in June 2005]. But I had a promoter [Bob Arum] that didn't believe in me. I had a promoter that had me play in the background. You know? I never cried and complained. What I did was said, 'Put 'em in front of me and I'll continue to beat these fighters. Eventually, the world will see. And eventually, I'll be a household name.' So, it took time. But then, once I got away from the promoter, once I got away from Top Rank – that was the best thing in my career, to get away from Top Rank.
"Once I got away from Top Rank, it was crazy. I bought myself out of my contract, from Top Rank, for $750,000. And just when I was away from them, in three fights I made $750 million, when I was away from Top Rank. So, I made the best move that was best for my career. And the ultimate goal is to put [Davis] in a position so that he can break my record. The ultimate goal is see records broke. You know what I'm saying? So, I'm proud of Tank. I'm not the type of fighter that's saying, 'Nah.' I wanna see my record get broken. And I wanna be a part of it. If I can help push this young kid to surpass me, I'm gonna continue to push him."
Report: Boxing Scene
BoxingFIGHT SPORTSGervonta DavisRicardo NunezTevin Farmer
Khan Sees Manny As Retirement Plan
Kownacki On Putting Brooklyn & Poland On His Back