Gervonta Davis vs. Mario Barrios and Oscar Valdez vs. Miguel Berchelt were put forward as candidates for the best fight of 2021 so far.
Speaking on the DAZN Boxing Show, Akin Reyes and Barak Bess considered the pros and cons of the two events.
For Reyes, he came down on the side of Tank v Barrios held this month, and explained why.
“Probably be Davis versus Mario Barrios. I just think that it was competitive enough to be a very entertaining fight,” he began.
“And honestly, I also thought that Jermall Charlo versus Fernando Montiel was a very entertaining fight. But if I had to choose one it would probably be Tank, for sure.
“Even though it was a clear winner in that fight by stoppage because a lot of times people only pick fights that are very close, or draws or go to distance. But sometimes you have a hell of a nine rounds, you don't say no, even six rounds in that fight was entertaining all the way through. So that's my pick. “
Bess, meanwhile, suggested some limitations of the Davis fight as Tank took time to get used to his new weight class.
“You know, at the end of that fight Davis says, you know, he was never in trouble. He was never hurt. He was just tentative trying to figure him out a little nervous because he doesn't want to get hit by 140 pounder,” he explained.
“But because of that, it looked very, very competitive. And not only that, I mean, when you hurt a guy, like he hurts guys, drop them twice. You don't see too many guys get up, you know, two times when Davis hit them and actually last throughout that round. So yeah, I gotta say, You're right. That's one of the best fights of this year so far.”
However, he namechecked Berchelt’s outstanding knockout of Valdez as his highlight of the year so far.
“But, you know, I gotta be different. And it's not always exciting. I mean, it's not only exciting when it's back and forth,” he started.
“A lot of times, it's exciting when the underdog wins, or it's a knockout. All knockouts are exciting. First round. 12 round doesn't matter.
“So I got to revert back to Oscar Valdez versus Berchelt. That was an unexpected knockout. It was brilliant. That was, ‘welcome back,’ counterpunch. Unbelievable. I say that fight.”