Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe is confident that Gervonta Davis can not only defeat Jesus Cuellar to win the WBA super featherweight title on April 21, but also beat the rest of the top boxers in a loaded 130-pound division.
Ellerbe spoke to Fightful about Davis' upcoming fight against Cuellar for the WBA title at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It will be Davis' fourth fight since the start of 2017 while Cuellar, a former featherweight world champion, will be fighting for the first time since losing his title to Abner Mares at the end of 2016.
Despite Cuellar moving up a weight and having to deal with a 16-month layoff from fighting, Ellerbe does not believe Cuellar will rollover and be defeated easily by Davis.
"One thing you can't replace is experience. He's been a world champion and been in big fights. He's very, very confidence. Lots of times, fighters take long layoffs for different reasons, but one thing you can't replace is experience and that is what he brings to the table. 'Tank' might hit with two, three, four big shots and he'll still be coming. Nothing about April 21 is going to be easy and Gervonta is going to solve this problem, this puzzle at the end of the day and I guarantee you that," Ellerbe said.
Of course a win over Cuellar would net Davis his second world title and put him in a position to potentially get more major fights moving forward, perhaps unification bouts. One particular fight that fans had been clamoring last year was a bout between Davis and WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko, who is moving up in weight to challenge for the WBA lightweight title in May.
Although that fight never materialized, Ellerbe said he and his team are confident that Davis can beat anybody in the division, including some of the other champions at 130 pounds. Davis is no stranger to fighting on big stages, having headlined a major boxing event in England for his first IBF title defense against Liam Walsh and be in the co-main event slot of the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor pay-per-view card.
"Well whatever opportunities are out there, we'll make the most out of them and take what's best for Gervonta's career. One thing for sure I want to make very clear. Whether it's Lomachenko or [WBA super featherweight champion] Alberto Machado or [former super featherweight champion] Jezreel Corrales or any of those guys, the top guys at that weight class, we have total confidence that Gervonta can beat all of those guys. We're going to do it the way we want to do it and we're willing to fight any of those guys. We're going to make the biggest fights out there for Gervonta," Ellerbe said.
Ellerbe, however, does not want to think too far ahead of Davis' current bout against Cuellar. This will be the second time Davis has faced a former world champion and Ellerbe does not believe it will be an easy fight for the young 23-year-old Baltimore native.
"But none of that will happen if you don't take care of business on April 21 and that's where the focus is. Anything that relates to anybody other than Cuellar, it doesn't matter. I wanted to be very clear that Gervonta can beat any of those guys, but it starts with Cuellar and winning this WBA title. Cuellar is a very, very tough opponent, hard-nosed, Argentinian, aggressive style. He's fought some very good opposition. We expect a very tough challenge from Cuellar, but at the end of the night, we expect 'Tank' to win and dominate in devastating fashion," Ellerbe said.
Davis vs. Cuellar will open the April 21 Showtime Championship Boxing card from the Barclays Center, where the main event is a 144-pound catchweight bout between Adrien Broner and Jessie Vargas and the co-main event of the card is an interim WBC middleweight title bout between Jermall Charlo and Hugo Centeno Jr.
