Mario Barrios was a more than game, fighting champion. "Tank" just had too much explosiveness for him, clearly settling any debate whether his power would translate to 140 pounds.
Davis produced two fight-altering knockdowns in the eighth round before closing out the show with a scintillating 11th-round TKO of Barrios to become the new WBA (Regular) super lightweight champion of the world at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Saturday night.
After struggling to get inside of Barrios' massive height and reach advantage, "Tank" persisted forward and changed the narrative of the fight when he unloaded a monstrous, lunging right hook to the head to drop Barrios and make "El Azteca" tumble backwards in the eighth round. Seconds later, Davis followed that up with a left hook to the face to drop Barrios yet again.
Barrios somehow fought back to win the ninth round, prompting Floyd Mayweather Jr. to tell Davis in his corner: "On the unofficial (scorecard), you're down." Davis seemed irked but later accepted the feedback with a nod to his mentor.
Barrios and Davis went toe-to-toe in an electric 10th round before Davis closed out the show in grand fashion in the 11th.
The round had Davis connecting on a left uppercut, which crumpled Barrios and put him face down on his elbows and knees in a heap of pain. Moments later, Davis added a left hook, and Barrios doubled over with a grimace painted on his face. Reading his body language, the ref stopped the bout to no objections from Barrios (26-1, 17 KOs), who suffered his first loss.
Davis, who improved to 25-0 with 24 KOs, thought he made the night harder than it should have been, but knew his explosive power would detonate.
"I definitely could have made it easier but I went up two weight classes and I got the job done," Davis told Showtime's Jim Gray.
"I knew for sure if I catch, I’m crackin!" he added. "So, I caught him, and it showed."
Davis wouldn't discuss his next move but did say he'll talk it over with his team.
Here's how the entire Davis-Barrios main card went.