Davis demolishes Walsh in three rounds
IBF super featherweight champion Gervonta Davis (18-0, 17 KOs) demolished previously unbeaten Liam Walsh (21-1, 14 KOs) in three rounds on Saturday night at the Copper Box Arena in London.
The 22-year-old Davis dropped the Englishman with a powerful left hand to the head in the third round. Walsh, 31, never recovered from the knockdown.
The American southpaw landed the first notable blow of the fight, a left hand to the temple in a tactical first round.
In the second, Walsh, a switch-hitter, managed to avoid Davis’ shots and had some success of his own. Then in the third, Davis unleased a barrage of punches, which sent Walsh to the canvas for a count.
When the action resumed, the American continued to punish Walsh with hard shots until referee Michael Alexander intervened at 2:11 of the round.
"It was just a matter of time before I got him," said Davis. "I used my boxing IQ tonight and picked my shots. When I connected I got him out of there. I'm still on the rise. I became a champion super-fast."
Davis was making the first defence of the world title he won when he dethroned previously unbeaten Jose Pedraza by seventh round TKO in January.
“I thought it would take a couple of more rounds to get him out of there,” said Davis’ promoter Floyd Mayweather, who looks set to return to the ring for a mega-fight with UFC star Conor McGregor. “I’m proud of Tank. He’ll be back in the ring in a couple of months. We want to take our time and see what goes from here.
"If the fight (with McGregor) happens, we’d like this young man to be on the undercard. He looked brilliant. I give him an A plus."
Walsh said: "That was a bad stoppage. He's very fast and very active but it was too quick. "I'm not saying the result would be different, but give me a chance."
Earlier on the card, Liam's twin brother Ryan halted Northern Ireland's Marco McCullough in the 11th round in the third defence of his British featherweight title.