DAVIS VS. LOMACHENKO? WILL BENAVIDEZ GET CANELO NEXT? WHAT CAN MATIAS DO AFTER LOSS?

Gervonta Davis, right, defended his WBA lightweight world title with a KO victory over Frank Martin Saturday night in Las Vegas. Steve Marcus/Getty Images

 Gervonta Davis cemented his status Saturday as one of the sport's best fighters with another highlight-reel KO.

One of Davis' patented left uppercuts dazed Frank Martin before a left cross sent the defenseless challenger crashing to the mat for the count of 10 in Round 8. Davis, ESPN's No. 7 pound-for-pound boxer, could face Vasiliy Lomachenko later this year in a lightweight summit meeting.

"Tank" Davis' successful WBA lightweight title defense was billed as the 100th championship fight at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena. The bout was Davis' first in 14 months -- a seventh-round TKO of Ryan Garcia last April -- and first since a 44-day jail stint last summer.

David Benavidez made his light heavyweight debut in the PBC PPV co-feature with a comfortable unanimous-decision victory over former champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk. While Benavidez didn't secure the stoppage, he did impress as he looks toward far bigger fights at 175 pounds.

Elsewhere Saturday, Australia's Liam Paro scored a major upset with a decision win over Subriel Matias to capture the IBF junior welterweight title.

Here's what we learned from each of those three fights, along with the title implications following the results:

Davis explosive in return; could Lomachenko be next?

Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) reminded everyone he's one of the sport's most-electrifying fighters with another spectacular KO victory. Martin was game and banked some early rounds with a sharp jab. All three judges gave Martin the first three rounds.

Fighting in his first title bout, Martin was able to mark up Davis' right eye with left hands as he boxed off the back foot, but "Tank" is usually a slow starter. This night was no different.

Davis' educated pressure began to wear Martin down behind his southpaw jab and followed with explosive left hands. It was a matter of time until one of those shots landed flush, and when it did, Martin couldn't absorb it. He had never been knocked down before, but this was his first fight on the elite level.

With another opponent out of the way, calls will resume for Baltimore's Davis to fight in a title unification bout for the first time at age 29. Preliminary talks have been held to match Davis against IBF lightweight champion Lomachenko. Ukraine's Lomachenko, ESPN's No. 1 lightweight, is a future Hall of Famer.

Davis, ESPN's No. 2 lightweight, could also look to a fall fight with Shakur Stevenson. Stevenson defends his WBC 135-pound title vs. Artem Harutyunyan on July 6, and will be a promotional free agent afterward, clearing an easier path for a fight with Davis.

Benavidez dominates in 175-pound debut

David Benavidez center, celebrates his victory over Oleksandr Gvozdyk to win the interim WBC light heavyweight title. Steve Marcus/Getty Images

One of the sport's fastest-rising stars, David Benavidez has long lobbied for a shot at Canelo Alvarez, but when that wasn't successful, he moved up to light heavyweight.

That first 175-pound bout came vs. Gvozdyk, the former lineal champion who once TKOed Adonis Stevenson but was sent into retirement by Artur Beterbiev in 2019.

After 3½ years out of the ring, Gvozdyk returned last year with three bouts against lower-tier opposition. He performed well against Benavidez to last the distance, but Gvozdyk never threatened to win the fight.

At his new weight, Benavidez didn't unload with his usual volume, but showed improved defense. He slipped many of Gvozdyk's shots while he applied pressure and caught many punches on his arms.

Benavidez battered Gvozdyk's body and prevailed via scores of 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112. Next up could be a fall fight with David Morrell, a super middleweight contender who's also moving up to 175 pounds. The Cuban will make his light heavyweight debut Aug. 3 vs. Radivoje Kalajdzic.

The marquee fight for Benavidez -- outside of an Alvarez meeting -- is the winner of the Oct. 12 Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol undisputed light heavyweight championship bout.

The concern now rests on Benavidez's power at his new weight. Despite all the damage he dealt Gvozdyk, he never had the Ukrainian in serious trouble. Against a better fighter such us Beterbiev or Bivol, Benavidez will likely need to be better.

"I was trying to get the feel for the light heavyweight division," said Benavidez, 27. "These guys, they hit a little bit harder up here. ... Two weeks ago I suffered a cut in my eye. ... I had a torn tendon on my right hand, and I didn't think I was going to make it tonight, but we pushed through it."

Paro upset over Matias shakes up 140-pound division

Liam Paro, left, defeated Subriel Matias by unanimous decision to win the IBF junior welterweight title. Amanda Westcott/Matchroom

For the second time in three months, there's a major upset in a junior welterweight title fight. First it was Ryan Garcia, who floored Devin Haney three times in a decision win in April, though the result stands to be overturned after Garcia's positive test for the banned substance ostarine.

Now it's Paro who defied the odds in a 140-pound title fight with a victory over Matias in enemy territory.

Paro (24-0, 15 KOs) stood his ground in the face of Matias' relentless pressure and exchanged with the power-puncher. The win appeared far from fluky as the 28-year-old made adjustments and showed off a versatile arsenal in a career-best performance.

It was yet another road victory for Paro, who traveled to the U.S. in December for a sixth-round TKO win over Montana Love. After the pair of wins -- this one over ESPN's No. 2 140-pounder -- the newly minted champion could find himself in the division's top five when ESPN's rankings are updated next week.

The division is hot. Jack Catterall rose to No. 4 in the rankings after he defeated Josh Taylor in the rematch last month. Teofimo Lopez, the lineal champion, defends his IBF title against Steve Claggett on June 29 in Miami.

There's now plenty of attractive matchups for Paro. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said he'd like to deliver a title defense for him in Australia, where Tim Tszyu and George Kambosos Jr. have competed in front of sizable crowds.

The most appetizing of all is a rematch with Matias, especially Down Under. The fight was a slugfest, and a return bout would be welcomed by fans.

Matias is with Matchroom, and so, too, are Catterall and Richardson Hitchins.

- Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider

OUT OF THE SHADOWS: EVEN AS A CHAMP, TIM TSZYU TRYING TO SET HIS OWN COURSE

Tim Tszyu, above, defends his WBO junior middleweight world title against Sebastian Fundora Saturday night in Las Vegas. Mark Evans/Getty Images

 LAS VEGAS -- Tim Tszyu shadowboxes at the Split T Boxing Club just off The Strip on a Friday morning in February, seven weeks before his name flashes all over the marquee in the fight capital of the world.

That Tszyu surname is a well-known commodity to fight fans, of course. His father, Kostya, is a Hall of Famer, but these days it's Tim who is charting his own path in boxing to prove he's far more than simply the son of a legend.

There's a striking resemblance to Kostya, the explosive puncher who tore through the junior welterweight division throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. And as Tim Tszyu hits the heavy bag on this day, he's guided by the same coach who trained his father in the Soviet school of boxing. Igor Goloubevk is Tim's uncle and Kostya's brother-in-law, a man who helped develop Tim's fierce discipline as a child running the dunes in Australia.

If Tim grew to prominence in Australia years ago due to his familiar name, he's since shown he's a serious fighter worth keeping an eye on all his own. The aggressive pursuit of his opponents both inside and outside the ring. The confident demeanor. The way he strings together combinations seamlessly. The power.

It was all on display last year in his breakthrough campaign that began with a ninth-round TKO win over Tony Harrison and ended in October with a decision victory over Brian Mendoza.

With each fight that passes, Tszyu appears to improve just a little bit more and inch just a bit closer to his goal of genuine stardom the world over. The opportunity to add a recognizable name like Keith Thurman to his resume -- and a victory no doubt -- would have bolstered his credentials.

However, Thurman suffered a biceps injury and was forced to withdraw. In his place steps Sebastian Fundora, a 6-foot-5½, 154-pounder with a vastly different frame and style from the one Tszyu was preparing for.

Fight cancellations aren't anything new to Tszyu. The 29-year-old (24-0, 17 KOs) was set to challenge for the undisputed junior middleweight championship last January before Jermell Charlo suffered a hand injury. That fight being scrapped was a disappointment, but it afforded Tszyu the opportunity to continue to build his own brand, displaying his fighting spirit by staying active against tough opposition rather than waiting for the champion to heal.

After Thurman's withdrawal, delaying his career longer wasn't an option. Taking this fight on 11 days' notice, Tszyu is primed to establish himself as a star, beginning with his first major fight in the U.S. for the WBC and WBO junior middleweight titles. He'll headline PBC's inaugural PPV on Prime Video (8 p.m. ET).

"It's a great launching pad," Tszyu tells ESPN. "It's a big [Las Vegas] debut, T-Mobile Arena. For me, it's always been a big dream of mine, but the possibilities after this are endless. The sky's the limit. The super fights are waiting, and that's what I've been wanting my whole life."

Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, left, with his son Tim Tszyu, who's defending his 154-pound title against Sebastian Fundora on Saturday. Jenny Evans/Getty Images

TSZYU HAS BEEN surrounded by boxing for as long as he can remember. He was born in Sydney, Australia, in November 1994, two months before Kostya challenged for his first world title, a sixth-round TKO victory over Jake Rodriguez in Las Vegas to become the IBF junior welterweight champion.

The elder Tszyu defeated Roger Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather's uncle and longtime trainer, in his first defense back in Australia and went on to star in the division as a pound-for-pound boxer until his final fight in 2005, when he was stopped by Ricky Hatton in Manchester, England.

""I want to be a throwback fighter, man. Just keep it old school. I look up to those guys that actually fought in the ring a lot of the times.... I still remember [Juan Manuel] Marquez, [Manny] Pacquiao, [Erik] Morales, [Marco Antonio] Barrera, [Marvin] Hagler, Tommy [Hearns]. These are the types of things that you don't forget. And I want to be one of those types of things that you don't forget."

All the indelible moments, from Las Vegas to England, from the stoppage victory over the great Julio Cesar Chavez and the second-round TKO over Zab Judah, left a big impression on Tim. He was six for the Chavez bout in Phoenix and seven for the Judah bout in Vegas, an infamous fight for Judah's stool toss and intimidation of referee Jay Nady.

"Sunday daytime was just -- I remember the Roy Joneses, and I remember just when they used to walk out and I used to just visualize even at a really young age, six, seven -- it's crazy to think that I still got the memories of that," says Tszyu, ESPN's No. 2 junior middleweight. "And then we'd go in the backyard and me and my brother [8-0 junior middleweight Nikita] would punch on, or me and my cousin would punch on and there'd be blood and broken teeth and broken noses, even at a young age. So I think the dream started then, and it's led to where I'm at now."

AS TIM CONTINUED to thrive as a young boxer, there was one man who was not actually literally in his corner -- his father. Sure, he had his father's support as he pursued the sport, but from a training standpoint, it was Igor who took the lead.

"I feel like a lot of the times dad would suffocate the kids, and I know that if my dad was in my corner, he would be suffocating," says Tszyu, whose father was born in the Soviet Union. "My dad lives in Russia, I live in Australia. He's never really been my coach, but we keep our relationship as just father and son rather than trainer and student. It's a conflict of interest. It's one thing being a trainer, one thing's being a father."

The father-son, trainer-coach dynamic is common in boxing but can come with serious issues and a fractured relationship. Kostya, Tim says, gives him advice, "but he usually says the same thing. It's quite generic. He just tells me 'don't get hit.' Yeah, that's the biggest pointer."

Tim Tszyu, left, and his trainer/uncle, Igor Goloubevk, at the Split T Boxing Club in Las Vegas. ESPN

Tszyu recalls cold showers each morning at age seven and 48-hour fasting challenges at that age, too, practices from his father, which he says he's maintained ever since.

"He grew up in Soviet Russia where the mentality is different," Tszyu says of his father. "Now I'm jumping in the pool every morning. I don't want to do it, but I still do it just because of the fact that every day has to be some sort of challenge. Something has to be difficult and there's no silver spoon here."

Kostya Tszyu competed five times in Las Vegas, but he won't be ringside Saturday for his son's Sin City debut. In fact, Tim's father has attended only one of his pro fights in person: his professional debut in December 2016 in Sydney. When Tszyu was asked if he was happy with his relationship with his father, Tim simply said "for sure."

The elder Tszyu and his family moved back to Moscow in 2008, but they later returned to Sydney. Four years later, Kostya Tszyu relocated full time to Russia and is now remarried with two children. He owns and operates a restaurant in Russia's capital.

"He's the man," Kostya told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2023. "He has proven to the world, to all the people that never believed in him, that believed it was only his name. I'm proud of it."

Tszyu's own rise in the fight game has far more to do with hard work and dedication than his last name, but his father still impacted his character in ways that continue to pay dividends.

"Discipline the same way [as his father]," says Goloubev, who began working with Kostya in 1997. "Always on time. ... Really disciplined and hard worker. Exactly the same. ... Vegas, it's mother of boxing. That's it. We're here ... now we just have to be the best."

Tim Tszyu, right, fought three times in 2023 -- three victories -- including a unanimous decision over Brian Mendoza in October. Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

TSZYU WAS WEEKS away from a career-defining showdown in Dec. 2022, a shot at Charlo and his undisputed junior middleweight championship. Then came the news on Christmas Eve -- Charlo suffered a broken left hand and the fight was canceled.

A choice laid before Tszyu: maintain his mandatory position with the WBO and wait for Charlo to recover, or look for another fight. Waiting is the route most boxers likely would have selected in today's risk-averse era, where fighters often compete once every 12 months. Especially boxers who are major draws like Tszyu is in Australia.

Only Tszyu had other ideas. Instead, he decided to fight former champion Tony Harrison -- a boxer who owned a win over Charlo -- and put his title shot on the line. Many observers thought it was a mistake to fight a legitimate, slick-boxing opponent rather than wait for Charlo and the career-high payday.

- Mike Coppinger, ESPN

BENAVIDEZ SHOPS ANDRADE AFTER SIX ROUNDS, CALLS FOR FIGHT WITH SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMP CANELO R

AP Photo 

LAS VEGAS (AP) — David Benavidez retained the interim world super middleweight belt by stopping Demetrius Andrade after the sixth round Saturday night.

In what was billed as clash of styles that could go the distance between unbeaten 168-pounders, Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) looked more like a clinician with a dominating performance before Andrade’s corner requested the stoppage after the sixth round.

Andrade (32-1) suffered the first loss of his career.

Benavidez is widely recognized as the world’s best super middleweight after Canelo Alvarez. Immediately after his win he called for a match against Alvarez to unify the super middleweight title as an annouced gathering of 9,585 fans roared their approval.