Bob Santos is regarded as one of the best coaches in the sport of boxing currently, as was seen when he won Boxing Trainer of the Year in 2022 from various organizations. Working with a slew of champions including Hector Luis Garcia, Carlos Adames, and Alberto Puello in 2022.
Santos, who is prepping to travel to Flordia to corner Kevin Brown, who fights on an MVP Promotions card, this Friday night, has the unique perspective of having faced Gervonta Davis twice in world title fights. Once working as an assistant with Mario Barrios, and in January of this year as the lead voice of Hector Luis Garcia. As people have speculated all week over who the best lightweight is Devin Haney, Gervonta Davis, and Shakur Stevenson, Santos gave ProBox TV News his take.
“Gervonta has tremendous athleticism, high ring IQ, [and] tremendous punching power,” said Bob Santos to ProBox TV News. “[Gervonta Davis] is the complete package. [Davis] has everything you would possibly need to be successful. I think what is come down to, with him is; how dedicated is he to the sport. To this point, [Davis] has shown he is very dedicated.”
As for what Santos believes is the x-factor for Davis’ career - it is simple. The commitment to the sport. Davis is becoming a superstar in the sport of boxing. With that, Davis will start to be spread thin, and more will be required of him. With these new obligations, how does Davis adjust and stay committed to the task at hand? The answers to these questions seem to be in an esoteric fashion; Santos’ trajectory of where Davis’ career will go.
“[Davis] has dominated virtually every fight [he has been in],” said Santos. “It is really going to come down to him staying in condition, and good lifestyle habits. If he does that - he is going to be very difficult to beat, but time will tell, because guess what you are a multi-millionaire, and it is a little more difficult to go running, the road work, the conditioning, the sit-ups, the push-ups, the sparring, and things of that nature. If he can continue that type of hunger, it is going to take [Davis] having a very, very off-night and someone having a very, very incredible night [to beat him].”
The big issue Santos sees is the mixture of in-ring intelligence with one-punch KO power that makes Davis a major threat. As Santos has seen first-hand that despite being ahead in the fight, there is little to be excited about when facing Davis as at any moment Davis can swing a fight. This level of power is why Santos believes Davis is the most dangerous lightweight in the sport.
As for if Stevenson and Davis ever fought. Santos favors Davis based on the power as Stevenson is a gifted boxer, but also doesn’t have the same power that Davis has. That could be an issue wonders the highly-respected trainer.
“I think Gervonta is a little bit more athletic than Shakur,” furthered Santos. “Shakur has a high, high ring IQ. So it would be a very interesting fight. I think Shakur would have to [fight the] perfect fight. Is he capable of doing it ‘sure’, but I would have to lean towards Gervonta Davis in that [fight].”
