Round 5

Davis is starting to get Martin’s timing down. He lands a right hook flush to Martin’s nose, his best shot of the fight. The challenger is moving almost exclusively in reverse, throwing (and landing) punches off the back foot, scoring effectively even as the looming menace seems to favor Davis. Davis lunges in with a right hook that lands, but Martin’s backward movement absorbed a lot of the power. Another close round for Martin.

Guardian’s unofficial score: Davis 9-10 Martin (Davis 46-49 Martin)

Round 4

Davis, still walking Martin down, catches his foe with a thudding body shot along the ropes but it doesn’t seem to hurt the challenger. More of the same for the first half of the fourth round, until Davis starts to open up. He lands an uppercut to Martin’s body and misses with a couple of sweeping power shots. Davis is really beginning to let his hands go and the crowd swells with anticipation.

Guardian’s unofficial score: Davis 10-9 Martin (Davis 37-39 Martin)

Round 3

Another strong round for Martin, who’s doing everything right so far. He’s outthrowing and outlanding the champion, nullifying his foe’s attack with the job, tying up when he needs to and using footwork to make himself an elusive target. Whether he can keep it up for nine more rounds is the question. Only two of Gervonta Davis’s 29 fights to date have made it to the cards.

Guardian’s unofficial score: Davis 9-10 Martin (Davis 27-30 Martin)

Round 2

Martin is throwing and landing more shots in the early going but we’ve seen this before in Davis, who’s like a tightly wound spring waiting for his moment to strike. Some very deft footwork by the challenger to get out of harm’s way before Davis can pin him down. Davis lands a counter left to the body. Then another. Martin continues to look to establish the jab to keep Davis at bay. The champion unloads with a flurry of punches but Martin wraps him up before he can inflict any damage. Another round for Martin but he’s done nothing so far to gain Davis’s respect.

Guardian’s unofficial score: Davis 9-10 Martin (Davis 18-20 Martin)

Round 1

There’s the bell! And Davis looks tiny in there. The champion is known for his slow starts but he’s already walking Martin down behind a Philly shell defense. Martin lands a couple of shots to Davis’s ribs. Martin is backing himself up into a corner but landing shots off the back foot. Davis hasn’t thrown much but he’s timing his opponent. Davis throws a hard left hand and Martin wraps up. Not much to choose from in a feeling-out round for both men, but Martin landed a few more shots.

Guardian’s unofficial score: Davis 9-10 Martin (Davis 9-10 Martin)

Here we go. The final instructions have been given by referee Harvey Dock, the seconds are out and we’ll pick it up with round-by-round coverage from here!

Ring announcer Jimmy Lennon has emerged from the tunnel. He announces each fighter and they make their entrance into the arena. First it’s Martin then Davis, who makes the ringwalk accompanied by Baltimore rapper OTR Chaz.

Ryan Garcia has taken his seat near ringside for tonight’s main event. He’s wearing a short that says TANK’S #1 FAN on the front and REMATCH ME BITCH! on the back. Considering their first fight generated more than 1m pay-per-view buys and a live gate in excess of $22m, that can and likely will be arranged.

“I think it’s a 7 out of 10, honestly,” Benavidez says when asked to rate his performance. “Oleksandr’s a great fighter, you know? No wonder he’s the ex-champion and an Olympic medalist. I felt like I had a great fight [against a] tough fighter and we’re we’re looking to move on.”

Asked why he seemed like a different fighter tonight, Benavidez cites the move up in weight.

“I was trying to get the feel of the light heavyweight division,” he says. “They hit a little bit harder up here, so I had to get a feel for it. I’m just happy I was able to make it tonight because two weeks ago, I suffered a cut in my eye. I also had a a torn tendon on my right hand. I didn’t think I was gonna make it tonight, but we pushed through it and thank God that we’re we’re here to get this fight.”

David Benavidez has defeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk by a unanimous decision. Scores were 116-112, 117-111 and 119-109. A solid light heavyweight debut for the Phoenix native known as the Mexican Monster.

David Benavidez and Oleksandr Gvozdyk are into the seventh round of the scheduled 12-round fight. It’s a complete shutout for Benavidez on our card. Gvozdyk, a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist who ended Adonis Stevenson’s lengthy title reign at 175lbs back in 2018, is past his best at 37 years old and being served up to a younger, primer opponent.

Shortly after this fight ends, Davis and Martin will make their entrances for the main event.

Tale of the tape

It’s been 14 months since Davis last fought. One of the reasons for the layoff involves last year’s guilty plea to charges stemming from a hit-and-run crash that left four people hospitalized, including a pregnant woman. Davis was sentenced to 90 days of home detention at the home of his trainer.

A judge ruled in June that Davis violated the terms of his house arrest after he moved to a luxury hotel and then a new home, but he was released from a Baltimore jail in July after 44 days at a detention center.

Now the 29-year-old southpaw, one of America’s most prodigious athletes and an unrepentant batterer of women whose history of gender-based violence is well-documented, is ready to get his career back on track.

“I’ve been locked in for a long time now,” Davis said. “My give-back is going to be a great performance on Saturday night.”

Alberto Puello has just upset Gary Antuanne Russell by a split decision. One judge scored it 118-109 for Russell but while the other two handed down cards of 115-112 and 114-113 for Puello, who has handed Russell his first loss in 18 professional fights.

Preamble

Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look at Friday’s eventful weigh-in.