The return of Gervonta Davis will see him in another world title fight.
Premier Boxing Champions and Showtime, in a press release sent to Fightful, announced that Davis will fight former featherweight champion Jesus Cuellar for the WBA "super" super featherweight championship in the opening bout of the April 21 Showtime Championship Boxing card from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
"I'm the most exciting and skilled fighter on television and in 2018 I plan to show it. On April 21 I'll be back in the ring, live on Showtime. Jesus Cuellar is arguably my toughest opponent to date. He is rough and tough, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. I'm more than happy to be fighting at Barclays Center where I won my first world title," Davis said.
Davis returns to the venue where he first won a world title. Davis knocked out Jose Pedraza back in January 2016 to win the IBF super featherweight title. Davis was scheduled to defend the title against Francisco Fonseca on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor pay-per-view card, but Davis was stripped of the title after not making weight the day before the fight. Davis and Fonseca still fought on the historic boxing event, with Davis picking up the win.
Cuellar has not fought since the end of 2016 when he lost the WBA featherweight world title to Abner Mares by split decision. That fight ended a five-year undefeated streak.
Alberto Machado currently holds the WBA world title after defeating Jezreel Corrales last year. Machado is currently in the midst of negotiating a fight against mandatory challenger Rafael Mensah with a March 12 deadline to secure a deal before purse bids are then ordered.
The other two fights scheduled for the April 21 event is an interim WBC middleweight title fight between Jermell Charlo and Hugo Centeno Jr. and the main event of Adrien Broner vs. Jessie Vargas. The card will be the third boxing event held at the Barclays Center after Showtime ran two boxing events in January and in March with an HBO card taking place there on April 28 and a Showtime event happening in May.
