Davis Wins Second World Championship With Stellar Third-Round TKO; Russell, Tazhibay Also Victorious!

Baltimore, MD's Gervonta "Tank" Davis is a world champion again.  The 23-year old captured his second world title in a highly impressive performance to win the WBA Super Featherweight championship over former WBA Featherweight champ Jesus Cuellar Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.  The bout opened the telecast on Showtime.

Davis got going early in the bout, landing crushing shots to Cuellar's head and body.  In the second round, Davis sent a solid straight left hand to Cuellar's liver to drop him to the canvas.  In the third round, Davis's seemed to be stunned early by a clash of heads.  However, Davis shook it off and went back to work, eventually landing another wicked body shot to drop Cuellar for the second time.  Moments later, Davis landed a beautiful combination ending with a left uppercut that felled Cuellar again.  Referee Benji Esteves moved in to stop the contest at 2:45 of the third.  Davis remains undefeated at 20-0, 19 KO's while Cuellar is now 28-3, 21 KO's.

On the undercard, Capitol Heights, MD super lightweight Antuanne Russell remained perfect with a third-round stoppage of Andrew Rodgers of Elkhart, IN.  Russell hammered Rodgers for the entire bout.  Russell did land a low blow late in the second round that momentarily stopped the bout but Russell continued the battering until referee Arthur Mercante, Jr. stopped the contest at 1:20 of the third round.  Russell is now 5-0, five KO's and is the first boxer to knock out Rodgers, who falls to 4-3-1, two KO's.

Also, DC welterweight Shynggyskhan Tazhibay remained undefeated with a four-round unanimous decision over Isaac Freeman of Los Angeles, CA.  Tazhibay floored Freeman with a right hand late in the first round then had to deal with a cut over his right eye in the second round but maintained complete control of the bout to win a shutout on two cards (40-35).  The other judge scored the bout at 39-36 for Tazhibay, who is now 6-0, two KO's while Freeman falls to 3-7-1, three KO's.

The only Beltway loss went to Silver Spring, MD's Justin "The Vodou" Savi who lost by third-round stoppage to Fabian Maidana of Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Savi falls to 31-16-2, 21 KO's.  Maidana remains undefeated at 15-0, 11 KO's.

It has been a nice Beltway night in Brooklyn as the area's other two world champions -- Gary Russell, Jr. and Jarrett Hurd -- were both interviewed during the telecast.