Davis demolishes Martin to retain WBA belt

Gervonta Davis delivered an explosive knockout of Frank Martin as he retained his WBA lightweight title in Las Vegas.

Davis stunned Martin with a big left uppercut and then followed up with a big hook from the same hand to send his opponent crashing to the canvas in the eighth round.

The unbeaten 29-year-old was returning to the ring after an absence of over a year and Martin started sharper, landing crisp right hands in the opening two rounds.

But Davis gradually raised the intensity of his punishing assault, forcing Martin to seek refuge on the ropes and in the corners.

A string of stinging shots troubled Martin in the sixth round, prompting roars of approval from the crowd at the MGM Grand.

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Davis produced another explosive stoppage win

Davis sensed his moment to strike in the eighth, ripping through Martin’s resistance with destructive punches to bring up another ruthless stoppage win.

On the undercard, David Benavidez marked his debut in the light-heavyweight division with a unanimous decision win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk to secure the interim WBC title.

Alberto Puello also won the WBC interim super-lightweight belt with a split decision win over Gary Russell.

In other world title action in Puerto Rico, Australian Liam Paro claimed the IBF super-lightweight belt after a unanimous decision victory over Subriel Matias.