There's a scene in "Rocky" where the almighty champion Apollo Creed flips through the pages of a fighters' directory, before stumbling onto "The Italian Stallion" Rocky Balboa. He tabs the underdog from Philadelphia, taking him from obscurity and putting him on a world platform with the shot of a lifetime.
Similarly, there had to be a point in deciding to move up two weight classes to 140 pounds where Gervonta "Tank" Davis and his team peered through the names available.
Engaged within the landscape were Josh Taylor and Jose Ramirez who were on a collision course for undisputed glory, which ended May 22, when Taylor soundly won by unanimous decision to become the overall ruler of the junior welterweight division.
Available within the confines of the 140-pound class, though, was "El Azteca" Mario Barrios. Unlike Rocky, Barrios wasn't waddling through obscurity. Barrios (26-0, 17 KOs) stands undefeated and is also the reigning WBA "Regular" junior welterweight champion of the world. However, similar to "The Italian Stallion," "El Azteca" enters Saturday night's bout against Davis at State Farm Arena in Atlanta as the underdog (+333 to Davis' -500 on Bet MGM).
Like Creed with Rocky, Davis and his team picking Barrios means the 26-year-old San Antonio, Texas native has an opportunity to take his profile from well known in boxing circles to well known in life, period. So, for that very reason, Barrios tells DAZN News that he doesn't feel disrespected over Davis stopping his index finger at him.
"I don’t take no offense to 'Tank' choosing me," Barrios says. "Actually, I was surprised. In my opinion, he’s daring to be great because if you look at my record since moving up to super lightweight, I have a very high knockout ratio.
"No matter who I fight, I’m always going to be excited," he continues. "But I can’t lie, this fight will make me a household name when I win, so in that regard, I’m pumped."
Davis, a four-time world champion currently in possession of the WBA junior lightweight and WBA lightweight titles, is building up to being a pay-per-view cash cow. So, Barrios telling him during Thursday's press conference that "I fully intend on f—ing up those plans come Saturday" would not only have him retaining his championship, but also skyrocketing his brand.
Despite Davis jumping up two weight classes, Barrios expects "Tank" to have his explosive power intact. After all, Davis is a man who's coming off of nearly decapitating Léo Santa Cruz with an uppercut from hell in October. The 26-year-old Davis (24-0, 23 KOs) also touts one of the best knockout ratios in boxing at nearly 96 percent. So, it shouldn't take long for Barrios to feel Davis' power Saturday night.
"We are going to find out when we step in the ring," says Barrios of gauging whether Davis' punching power translates at 140 pounds. "I mean, we don’t know what his power is going to look like at super lightweight. I’m expecting him to be his normal explosive self. I’ll be ready for anything he brings."
Davis, who stands 5-5 1/2 with a 67 1/2-inch reach, will seemingly need to get inside of Barrios, who's 5-10 with 71 inches of reach as the clearly bigger man.
And that's part of what makes Davis vs. Barrios so intriguing. Can Davis continue his power display at 140 pounds, making Barrios his latest highlight KO victim? Or will Barrios prove that Davis severely miscalculated and chose the wrong one this time around?
While those questions will be answered Saturday night, Barrios fully intends on introducing "Tank" to "El Azteca" — a nod to his Mexican heritage and the very fiber of his soul.
"Well, he’s never been in the ring with a fighter like myself, with the length, reach and size advantage I’ll be possessing," Barrios touts. "'Tank' is pound-for-pound one of the best fighters in the sport, and I know what is in front of me.
"The question is, does he?"