Meet the Champions

Chapter I
The Gervonta Method

Everybody expects knockouts when the

heavyweights are on show, but there's always
something extra special and fascinating about
seeing a smaller man knock out all the opponents
and wreak devastation in the ring.

With a knockout-to-win ratio of over 90 percent,

Davis is one of the hardest hitters in Boxing today,
despite being in the lower weight divisions.

The undefeated southpaw powerhouse, suitably

nicknamed "Tank," has evolved to become one of
the best 135 to 140 pounders on the planet, in
arguably the most competitive divisions in sport
today.

Even though Davis has proven he is at an elite level

by winning world titles, there is still much more
potential to be uncovered.
The training methods have made Davis one of the
most explosive punchers and exciting fighters to
watch in the sport today.

Let's get right into it.

But it is important to look at his boxing beginnings

to see where this talent came from.

Like so many great champions before him, Davis

had to become tough very early in life.

As he grew up around drugs and crime in the inner

city of Baltimore, he had two choices: crime or
Boxing. Luckily, Davis took the route of Boxing
and entered the gym at a very young age.

His knack for fighting was evident from the very

beginning, and Davis had a very successful amateur
career, winning the 2012 National Golden Gloves
Championship.
Davis finished this illustrious amateur career with
an impressive record of 206-15.

Instead of going to the Olympics, he immediately

turned his attention to professional Boxing.

It was in these younger years that he was able to

develop that talent into a brilliant boxer-puncher as
he entered the pro game, meeting the right mentors
and trainers.

Davis, born into a family life that was not normal,

compensated by putting the young "Tank" in the
front of the eyes of lifelong coach Calvin Ford.

Later, Floyd Mayweather would come into the

picture and would be the main architect behind
Davis's rise from obscurity to stardom.

With his father in prison and his mother a drug

addict, young Gervonta bounced between foster
care homes until he found the father figure he
needed at the Upton Boxing Center.

This man, of course, was Calvin Ford, a former drug

dealer turned boxing trainer, who provided all the
support and motivation he needed.

In Gervonta’s words, they saved each other from the

streets that had claimed so many other promising
boxers from the gym.

Interestingly, Ford's story was actually an

inspiration behind the character Dennis "Cutty"
Wise from the HBO series "The Wire."

After scoring six KO victories in his first six pro

fights, Davis would go to the Mayweather gym in
Vegas and, at the time, would spar with Devin
Haney.
From this one sparring session, Floyd saw
something special in Gervonta, and the young boxer
signed with Mayweather Promotions in 2015.
Mayweather was never shy of promoting his young
star, and this proved instrumental in his initial
mainstream success, along with his electric fighting
style.

Outside of the promotion, his mentoring is

obviously a dream come true for many boxers, and
you can still see traces of Floyd's "Pretty Boy" years
inside Davis's boxing style as well.

While Gervonta has also worked with other trainers,

including Barry Hunter and Patrice "Boogie"
Harris, they've also played a part in Davis's
development.

Now, I've been unable to find the exact set timetable

routines through my research, but from what I've
found, on a typical day, it may look like the
following:
In the morning, he would go out on a morning run,
whether that be three to six miles.
He would then have an afternoon session such as
boxing training, which would include things like
sparring or using different pieces of boxing
equipment or boxing drills with the pads, or it could
be a strength and conditioning circuit depending on
the day.

He's also been seen doing night sessions, including

going for late-night runs or doing more technical
boxing drills or even sprints, and sometimes he has
been seen playing basketball with his entourage and
just chilling and focusing on his recovery.

A championship-caliber fighter must be able to box

for 12 rounds without losing too much spring in his
step.

Usually, power punchers have faster twitch

musculature, which is responsible for their
explosive and devastating power.
Like with anything in life, the huge benefit also
comes at a cost, which is usually endurance.

Those fast muscles burn more energy and can be

less efficient as a knockout artist himself.

Tank fights in a style that does not require too much

energy expenditure; he's a very good
counterpuncher until his opponent is hurt or tired
before he sticks to them.

This cardio training lets him preserve the energy

and keep his greatest asset to have his power fully
loaded throughout the fight.

The fact very few have managed to go the distance

with Tank means he usually only boxes a few runs.
But the times we have seen him boxing to the later
rounds, he has seemed only to tire out a little.

This is probably part of his energy-efficient style,

but also due to his elite level of cardio.
Obviously, Tank idolizes his mentor Mayweather
and follows some similar routines to him, which of
course include running and jumping rope.

But where Floyd trains more like an old-school

fighter, Davis uses more modern principles.

For example, Tank will usually do sprint work to

improve further that explosiveness and anaerobic
capacity to deliver and simulate power punches.

There are some very impressive videos of him

doing things like hill sprints worthy of any track
athlete.
Still, he also does those slow miles outside and on
the treadmill.

From what we see online, Gervonta frequently does

grueling conditioning circuits as well that both
improve his cardio and help shed pounds.
For example, he's often training in a boxer or sauna
suit to help him lose weight.

The benefit of these long circuits is the wide variety

of exercises that help him develop other attributes
alongside the cardio as it helps to train his aerobic
performance at a very high intensity to push him to
his max.

This helps Tank to be prepared to simulate that high

level of energy such as putting pressure on an
opponent to get the finish.

At the same time, they've also been done for 30-

minute periods that are long enough to improve this
area.

Now as much as physical fitness is important for a

boxer, his main attribute should always be his
boxing skills, and Tank Davis is a testament to that.
However, what makes him so dangerous is not just
his sheer power, but the fact he boxes the way the
game was intended to be played, by hitting and not
getting hit.

The fact that knockout power is generated from the

ground up through the legs and the hips has been
known by old-school boxers and various martial
artists, which has been reconfirmed by modern
sports science.

The most powerful strikes can be delivered with

only proper muscle activation and body mechanics.
While Tyne Davis surely has that natural sting in his
punch, his perfect technique and ability to torque
his body into punches is what makes him such a
powerhouse.

That technique can only be acquired through years

of diligent focused practice.
But Tank refines and works on these fundamentals
through your typical boxing training.

Every modern boxer can afford to skip training on

the mitts with his coaches.

In fact, this is the main method of trying out

offensive and defensive scenarios and sequences.

From watching Tank use these with his trainers,

they look to add variety and utilize the whole array
of pad work.

You will train in the flowing style Floyd

Mayweather was famous for by doing his non-stop
sequences at lightning-fast speed, which are
obviously not too realistic but will help work on his
speed reactions and conditioning.

On the standard pad drills, he does more classic

realistic combinations and sequences that you
would see in his face which greatly aids in
developing things like his accuracy and tactics in
the ring, also helping him work on his upper body
and footwork.

Sometimes his trainers will also add in the body

shield, which is a great way for Tank to work on
body shots while also having to react to his trainer
using the pads up top.

Calvin Ford will even sometimes stick on his

headgear and gloves and make Tank fight on the
inside to make it a much more realistic drill and to
help him prepare to fight in the inside.
Finally, Gervonta also likes to let punches rip on
every boxer's new best friend, the punch shield,
where the heavy bag remains unrivaled as a power-
building tool.

The shield allows for full power strikes but also

requires accuracy and punch variation with
different upper body movements, which really does
help Tank as he's then able to apply this in the ring
come fight night.
The sight of Tank Davis in front of the Money Team
heavy bag is an echo of Floyd Mayweather at times.

Tank loves drilling on the bag the same way his

mentor famously does.

He flows with his continuous light shots before

breaking his rhythm and going with a few power
shots and then immediately going back into that
flow.
This can obviously help with your muscle
endurance and also work on your punch rhythm
when working on a heavy bag like this.

You'll also use uppercut bags as they are a great way

to improve your angled punches and uppercuts
which Tank is so good at.

Reaction bags, you also see Tank using the double

end bag which is a great tool in terms of developing
your punch timing anticipation and reactions.
This is a brilliant tool for a big counterpuncher like
Gervonta to develop that punch timing as it forces
you to react to what's in front of you.

By the time you get in the ring, he also uses the

speed bag mainly to help with shoulder muscle
endurance while helping his hand-eye coordination
timing and rhythm.
Like all fighters, Tank will of course shadowbox
mainly to warm up before his full-blown boxing
session.

This helps him loosen up and refine his technique

and movement.

What I do like about shadow boxing is just the way

he incorporates footwork and upper body
movement while he will also start to throw some
punches with some mean intentions as if there's an
opponent which I believe really does help to
improve your technique.
Now, as much as the other areas of equipment are
great at improving your skills, sparring really is the
only way to sharpen the ax to know that you're at
the next level.

When Tank spars, he always seems to be the smaller

opponent, never shying away from sparring guys
there are even a couple of weight divisions above
him.
Just like in the rest of the training, we can see Floyd
or Ford encouraging and witnessing Tank busting
up training partners in the gym.

In all the videos we have, Davis doesn't hold back

in spars, going with full power.

But usually, you can tell they bring in partners that

are game too, and want to compete with them.
Evidently, this is a way top boxers prepare for fights
by simulating them in the gym, so they are already
come fight night.

There's a great clip of them sparring with a younger

Teo Lopez which I recommend you check out.

You can even tell back then how cool and collected
Tank is, and he shows he can box on the back foot
or fight on the inside.
He even has a cheeky response to Teofimo's Dad at
one point.

Because Tank usually gives up height and reach

advantage, he must compensate with his
explosiveness and counter-punching.

This is why strength and conditioning can play a

very important role in his training.
Davis fully utilizes modern science strength and
conditioning, whereas some of the older boxers
relied solely on traditional exercises.

Here are some of the things Tank works on:

Davis has become best friends with medicine balls

where he will do a lot of conditioning work with
them by doing throws, slams, and twists.

Obviously, the movement of pushing a ball or

twisting is like the muscles used when throwing a
punch and helps with things like that explosive
power.

This does not mean, of course, he doesn't do things

like pull-ups or push-ups; they are part of his
routines but are more part of his full-body circuit as
I discussed before.

You will quite often see him add resistance bands

when doing push-ups which help add isometric
tension to help Davis improve his muscular
endurance and strength.

Davis also hits the weight room occasionally with

more traditional strength exercises like bench
presses, deadlifting with a trap bar, landmine
presses, and even floor dumbbell presses which are
all great at developing foundational strength.

Tank will also do a lot of core work in those circuits

which help fire up all the muscles needed to deliver
a powerful punch and also withstand one.
You'll see him do lots of different core exercises
such as twists, alternative planks, and medicine ball
core hits.

As a world champion, Tank Davis, in more recent

years, has taken his craft a lot more seriously and
has now hired a personal chef and nutritionist who
will take care of his diet.
Tank revealed to Muscle and Fitness that he follows
a strict diet now including lean proteins, vegetables,
and healthy fats which are eaten every few hours
during camp.

So here's what a typical training day may look like

For breakfast, he often eats turkey bacon with eggs
and mixed peppers.

For lunch, he would eat tuna with spinach along

with a light snack that would vary.
And for dinner, he would have another protein like
salmon along with potatoes and either broccoli or
asparagus.

While this sounds exactly how you would imagine

a lead boxer should eat, it was only sometimes the
case with Davis around 2019.

Tank would eat everything he liked, which of course

included a lot of junk food like fries and slushies.
He even mentioned how he had to drop weight
before he could even start training first.

As mentioned, this all appears behind him now, and

despite occasionally enjoying some Skittles at
unexpected times, he seems to have got this
together now.

From everything I've seen with Tank and even with

his personality, he is a guy who absorbs the
information given to him.

He's maybe not as outspoken as many other

fighters, which gives him that sense of mystery
behind him sometimes.

Is he a guy who gets hyped up because of the people

around him, or is he a man who truly listens and
applies what is being relayed to him?

Personally, I think it is a bit of both.

You need to watch any of his training, and you see
the likes of Ford shouting instructions at him all the
time trying to motivate him.

Interestingly, Ford said the following about keeping

Tank on point:

"When I see Tank not paying attention, that's

when I get on him. People don't know this, but
fighters get lackadaisical sometimes in a fight. It's
like a part of you gets bored a little bit, so you start
letting your guard down. The main thing I work on
as far as a situation like that is that he's paying
attention. If you got hit with a good shot, look at me
to make sure that you understand I'm saying
something to you. If I see that you aren’t paying
attention to me when I say something to you, that
means something seriously wrong."

The likes of Ford and Mayweather are men with

high boxing IQ and knowledge, and it's clear to date
Tank takes on their advice when in the ring.
You just need to see him being able to change the
game plan suddenly before he gets a knockout out
of nowhere.

It's clear to me, however, that Ford puts in the work

in terms of studying the opponents so Tank can
concentrate on the training part and implement what
has been taught to him.

He likes to play those mental games with him by

putting up pictures of his opponent in and around
the gym, which is proven to give mental rehearsal
and motivation before a fight.

It gives you the ability to mentally be there before

you're even in the ring.

Tank's training is a combination of working

extremely hard in all areas but with a slight focus
on being able to generate knockout power at any
moment.
Being the smaller man in most instances, he's had
to look for ways to compensate for his lack of height
and reach by instead looking to use explosive power
he can utilize at any moment.

Many still don't play Gervonta due to his

undisciplined younger years when he relied more
on his incredible talent.

But since maturing and absorbing the information

from the likes of Floyd and Ford, watching any of
his training sessions, you can tell he works his ass
off now.

And if he can keep up the discipline, I wouldn't be

surprised if we see Tank continue to knock out and
steal the show for many years to come in some
potential super fights from 135 to 140 pounds.

You see, you can learn so much from one

champion, what do you think would happen if
you analyze four?
Floyd, Manny, Canelo, and Davis are without a
doubt, one of the greatest fighters in the world.

Training and preparation are the keys to their

undisputed greatness.

And if you want a more detailed version of how

these fighters became legends…

Check out the Train Like Legends 2.0

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