“Saturday will definitely give me a gauge of it,” Davis told ESPN on Thursday.
Early on in Davis’ fight against Mario Barrios on Saturday night, it seemed like there was a similar adjustment period for Davis, who was fighting a bigger fighter in every way — giving up height, reach and natural weight.
Moving up and down the weight ladder, in an attempt to claim belts at every stop along the way, could have hit a major roadblock for the 26-year-old at junior welterweight on Saturday.
Davis said it was on him that the fight lasted as long as it did — that Barrios was in as advantageous a position as he was in early on.
Davis at 140 pounds is always going to be an interesting proposition.
But for those hoping to see fights against the other young breakout fighters between 130 and 140 — the Ryan Garcias, Teofimo Lopezes, Devin Haneys and Josh Taylors of the world — it doesn’t sound like those fights are in the cards in the near future.
“We’re not going to go nowhere and make another company great.
Mayweather is particularly helpful in that kind of planning, considering how many divisions he fought in over the course of reaching 50-0 in his Hall of Fame career.
I gradually moved up because I was at 130 for, I think, I don’t know how many years, and then I gradually moved up to ’35, ’40, ’47 and then ’54.
On Saturday, there was a chance there could be a limit for a little while, had things gone awry against Barrios, but Davis showed he can rebound.
And as he gets more experience, he showed an ability to put himself in better situations against larger boxers — and that could carry Davis a long way.