Gervonta “Tank” Davis kept walking Frank Martin down, trapping "The Ghost" in the corners.
Then, during the eighth round, "Tank" finally made good on being a Ghostbuster. He buzzed Martin with a left uppercut before knocking him out with a left cross on the jaw to retain the WBA lightweight world championship at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
"Boom, that's (the uppercut) what it was ... the brick hand just finished it off," Davis told Jim Gray while reacting to the replay of his dynamic stoppage. "God damn."
With the victory, the 29-year-old Davis not only retained his title after a 14-month layoff to improve to 30-0 with 28 knockouts, but also added to his highlight reel of electric finishes which arguably make him the most exciting boxer in the sport today.
The thunderous ending came after Martin had success in earlier rounds, asserting the jab and moving around the ring to frustrate "Tank" and even bruise the champ's face.
However, Davis increased his pressure by the round and repeatedly trapped Martin in the corners and against the ropes, delivering chopping left hands with each encroachment. That hot pursuit was really turned up a notch in the seventh round, before "Tank" unleashed his vaunted explosive power to hand Martin (18-1, 12 KOs) his first pro loss.
"It was a shot I didn't see," Martin said afterwards of the left hand that laid him flat on his back.
Here's how the entire Davis vs. Martin pay-per-view main card went.