The Big Myth About Tank Davis

The problem, as other posters more veteran than me commented countless times, isn't that he lacks skills, but that he doesn't test himself enough and valorize himself to fight higher competion. He could have been a future HoF by now.
Anyone who considers him sum gatekeeper/can-crusher in the same vein of Briggs or Wilder is clearly devoid of proper judgement.
He is a very capable boxer who could turn the tables everytime the storm approaches him.

 

Big facts ,
been saying tank is special
Since Pedraza but people love to discredit the lil guy.

Frank white & Ryan G were step up fights for him
So he has finally stepped it up in comp.

 

I rate him, despite his poor resume. The skill at least to me is obvious. He's wasted his career for the most part so far. He is still only 29, so has time to change that, but I have no faith in him or his handlers looking to push him harder.

 

We act like? Who are you speaking for? I don't think people are saying Davis has no skills and he's another Wilder.. so what u on about? Davis is a good fighter.. but I'm not going to jump all over this win like it's something special .. nobody outside of the PBC has even heard of Frank Martin .. the PBC types loves these little stay at home supposed 'p4p' children weight Fighters like Davis to make them feel better about themselves for losing in every other division that consists of actual grown ups.. the facts are that Davis is a privileged & protected commodity who over 11 years has put together quite a thin career in comparison to many of his forebears .. ye hes a good little fighter, but i dont see anything remarkable about his career .. I think it's more the fact that his fanboys don't hold him to the High standards they seem to hold everybody else to

 

No ones denying he has skills. We just want people to stop acting like he’s invincible until he steps up the competition

 

Good post Fogger.

 

His level of opposition is still not the best.

There's nothing inherently wrong in boxing cautiously for a few rounds to size up an opponent before going through the gears and picking them apart and/or stopping them - you don't have to be gungo-ho from the word go in order to be great, let alone good.

The problem with Tank is that he looks skilled against mediocre opponents - but we've seen enough times before that fighters can look a million bucks against gatekeepers but then step up and look much more mediocre.

Since you mentioned him, Wilder is a good example of this in one sense - against journeymen and the occasional gatekeeper he looked like a legit champion... But against contenders he just can't compete, can't adapt and looks like he shouldn't have been put in the same ring as them.

The parallel between Tank and Wilder has nothing to do with skill or ring IQ - it's all about managing image to give the impression that they're serious fighters without having to really prove it.
Tanks not quite as bad in that regard... And Deontay blew that image with a cherrypick that went wrong - will Davis end up doing the same (maybe with Loma?) or will he prove himself to be the real deal? (Or will he just never step up and hope that he gets the credit without the proof?)

 

I don't think the Wilder comparisons are good at all I think Davis has a lot more skill especially anticipating punches and countering he also doesn't wing Wild punches his punches are Compact and accurate and he doesn't waste punches

Sure he lost a couple of rounds It was obvious Martin wasn't going to be able to keep it up all night And Davis was starting to apply more pressure was starting to get to him more Losing rounds Is A great strategy If it takes losing a few rounds early to figure out an opponent Then it works

There was never a point in the fight where I felt like Davis looked uncomfortable or confused or in danger he's very composed.

I'm not trying to overrate him I think lately I've underrated him

 

Tank faces crappy oposition, but he passes the eye-test with an excellent score, that's undeniable.

Yesterday he started slow, that's all, but he was in total control of the fight at basically any moment.

Is the eye-test enough? clearly not. Is the eye-test important? I think so

 

You are being disingenuous Tank was not losing the fight he was ahead on all three judges scorecards

 

tank is great, but there is no elite level talent at 135/140 thats gonna give tank a 50/50 fight. he blows out shakur, lomachenko, or anyone in those weight classes. it wouldve been nice if crawford was still at 140 to give tank a good fight. unless tank can somehow move to 147, but i dont think he wil be at his best at that weight.

 

Okay, but that's not really what the Wilder comparisons are about.

It's about the basic recipe for building reputation - fight lower level opposition, duck the better fighters and claim they're ducking you... Insist you're the best loudly... Oh, and have an army of fans who get furious whenever anyone dares mention mediocre resumes.

There is a parallel there.

But there's obviously no parallel in terms of technique, and quite possibly no parallel in terms of potential to step up - but then, if that were the case, why isn't he?