By: Sean Crose
“There’s a lot of holes in his defense that a lot of people haven’t exposed before,” Jack Paul said at a Monday press conference. He was referring to lightweight kingpin – and far smaller fighter – Gervonta Davis, who he’ll be fighting in November. Whether or not Paul will be able to exploit Davis’ supposed shortcomings remains to be seen. Paul is the far bigger of the two men, but there’s no denying it’s Davis who is the far more skilled of the two. Still, Paul exuded great confidence before the media. “I haven’t got a knockout in a long time,” he said, “so I’m itching. I’m just excited to be able to deliver that for the fans and have another most viral knockout ever.”
Consider Davis to be less than impressed. “I’m much quicker than him,” he said of Paul. “He’s much stronger and much bigger, but we all know that it’s harder for taller fighters to fight a shorter one.” Such statements make images of Jack Dempsey beating the pulp out of an enormous Jess Willard way back in 1919 come to mind. “He’s decent and he’s going to hold up for a couple of rounds,” Davis claimed, “but once it gets hot in there you know how things play out.”
Although an exhibition bout, the fight will be scheduled for ten three minutes rounds. The weight limit will be 195 pounds, although Davis fights out of the 135 pound division. The argument, of course, is that Davis’ enormous skill set will even things out once the opening bell rings. Paul actually made light of the size discrepancy during the media event. “Just a lot of punching down,” he joked regarding his training methods for facing Davis, “hitting below my knees and a lot of speed. We’re sparring some eight year olds. I’ve got 8year old’s in there.”
There was also mention of Davis’ frequent legal problems. “With or without the ankle monitor on?” Paul piped in when Davis was asked about his weight goal for the fight. Davis, however, lobbed some bombs of his own. “”For real, that outfit is garbage, and that hairstyle,” he said of Paul’s appearance, “anybody that’s ever rocked a mohawk is a f—-ng clown.” Although he’s been accused of underestimating his opponent, Davis still made it clear he intended to put on a show when the two men square off in Miami.
“Every time I fight,” said Davis, “it’s fireworks,”