A long-rumored, pay-per-view doubleheader featuring two of the biggest stars on the Premier Boxing Champions roster is now official for June 15 in Las Vegas.
Gervonta “Tank” Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) will defend his WBA lightweight title in the main event against rising contender Frank Martin (18-0, 12 KOs), PBC announced Saturday on social media. In the co-feature, two-time super middleweight champion David Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) will move up to 175 pounds to challenge former champion Oleksandr Govzdyk (20-1, 16 KOs) for the WBC interim title.
The PBC on Prime Video PPV will emanate from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the third fight card since PBC left Showtime in December before signing a deal with the streaming subscription giant.
The announcement marks a return to the ring for Davis for the first time in 14 months since he knocked Ryan Garcia via body shot in their PPV blockbuster last April. The 29-year-old knockout sensation from Baltimore, who is ranked among the top pound-for-pound boxers on the planet, served 44 days in a detention center last summer after a judge ruled he violated the terms of his house arrest stemming from a 2020 car crash in which Davis fled the scene.
Davis is expected to find legitimate competition in the form of Martin, a 29-year-old southpaw from Indianapolis, who is trained by Derrick James. Martin has three wins over unbeaten fighters in his last six outings alone, including a near shutout of Michel Rivera in December 2022.
Fresh off a breakthrough 2023 campaign that saw him earn recognition in the fighter of the year balloting, Benavidez has decided to put his own career interests above waiting on undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, who returns March 4 against unbeaten Jaime Munguia in a separate PBC on Prime Video PPV but continues to campaign against why he needs to fight the rising superstar.
Benavidez, 27, who was given his nickname of “Monster” by none other than Mike Tyson, scored breakthrough PPV wins last year over Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade to gain equal measures of critical and commercial success. He will make his 175-pound debut against Gvodzyk, the 37-year-old former titleholder from Ukraine, who scored a trio of 2023 comeback wins after returning from retirement following a 2019 knockout loss to Artur Beterbiev in their unification fight.
