Leonard Ellerbe believes that Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis is the most popular fighter in the lightweight division.
The CEO of Mayweather Promotions believes that even the full champions at 135lbs do not have the star power of the unbeaten American, who has held belts across multiple divisions.
David holds a minor lightweight belt under the WBA franchise but Ellerbe does not think that affects his star power.
“Davis is the picture,” Ellerbe said to BoxingScene.com.
“He is the prize. He’s the only one – again, put this in perspective. I’ve said this before. You can put all those guys that you’re talking about, put them all together, and they still don’t equal what Davis just did on Sunday night in [Los Angeles] with all those fans.
“We have all the leverage. The belts are what they are. Those are good fighters. All these guys will meet up. They will eventually fight each other. You can’t do it fast enough, you know?”
Davis last fought in December at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, when he beat Isaac Cruz on points in a tough 12-round contest.
The 27-year-old is coming towards the end of his current deal with the Mayweather outfit, with his last scheduled fight this weekend, in a delayed bout against Rolly Romero, another unbeaten fighter.
Ellerbe took nothing away from fighters such as George Kambosos Jr. and Devin Haney, who are set to decide the undisputed champion of the divison next month.
“That’s a good thing,” Ellerbe confirmed.
“They have to do what they’re doing in order to build their base. And that’s a good thing. Because you want to be able to bring something to the table. You don’t just want to say, I want to fight you because my name is this.
"Fights that people think are big they really aren’t big. What is the definition of big? What are we gonna do, sell out an arena? Have we had any problems selling out any arenas? I’d like to see some of these guys build their profiles to make people interested. Guess what? People are gonna pay their money for what they want to see. If you have an event and people aren’t supporting your event there’s a reason why.
“You gotta keep that in perspective where the fan interest is. This sport right here is bigger than what’s on Twitter and all of that. Like, we understand how to build fighters and turn them into stars. You understand?”
Discussing the chance of Haney coming to the table with all four belts to arrange a fight with Tank, Ellerbe was unconvinced the potential four-belt champion is a better boxer than his own fighter.
“It’s not about a bargaining chip,” Ellerbe said, in reference to the titles.
“Of course [having belts], that’s a good thing. That’s a real good thing. He’s a real good fighter. He can’t beat Tank Davis, though, but he’s a good fighter.
“But I wouldn’t give a s— if he had 49 belts. He can’t beat Tank.”