When real recognizes real: Why Gervonta Davis is one of Errol Spence Jr.'s favorite fighters

• There's mutual respect between the Errol Spence Jr. and Gervonta Davis camps.
• Davis promoter Leonard Ellerbe cites Spence as one of the faces of American boxing.

Thunderous puncher Gervonta Davis is one of Errol Spence Jr.'s favorite boxers.

Spence returns to the ring Saturday for a Premier Boxing Championship event against Yordenis Ugas which is broadcast on Showtime pay-per-view from the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

When Showtime announced its spring and summer schedule, 'Tank' Davis headlined the only other box office bout as he takes on Rolando Romero atop a Mayweather Promotions show May 28 at the Barclays Center in New York.

Insider has frequently spoken to Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe. And whenever we talk about who the faces are for the sport in the US, Ellerbe is always quick to laud Spence.

And so when Insider spoke to Spence recently, we found out that love is a two-way street as the welterweight champion hailed Tank as "a beast."

Spence told us: "He's matured a lot and he's just a beast in the ring. Anybody who steps into the ring with him has serious problems.

"He's one of my favorite fighters to watch," Spence said. "He's very entertaining and always puts on a show when he fights. I love watching Tank fight."

Spence's appreciation for Davis goes beyond Tank as a boxer.

"He's a cool dude and doesn't act Hollywood," said Spence. "He has a head like a normal person. He's chill. We've kicked it a bunch of times."

Coach Derrick James shares his fighter's appreciation for Davis, who is unbeaten after 26 fights as a pro with wins over Jose Pedraza, Leo Santa Cruz, and Mario Barrios.

Though he's not yet seen Davis fight live, James likes seeing Tank fight. "I'm a fan of his," said James.

"I like watching him fight and I think that he's shown in his last fight the levels of how good he is. Then, people were saying, 'He's a puncher, or he's this or he's that.'

"But no — he showed his boxing ability and his depth. Which is really great to watch. I'm really happy for him. "

Spence expects Davis to knockout Romero

Like Spence, Davis seems like he's close to a legacy-defining match.

While Spence may be looking forward to exchanging blows with Terence Crawford, Davis is spoiled for choice when it comes to lightweight rivals as he shares a division with Vasiliy Lomachenko, Ryan Garcia, and Teofimo Lopez.

But first, Davis must fight Rolly Romero. According to Spence, it's a fight Davis should win with relative ease.

"The Rolly fight is going to be dope just off the back that Rolly talks a lot of crap," said Spence. "Gervonta doesn't normally but when somebody talks crap about him he definitely going to say something back, so there'll be a lot of bad blood in that fight.

"Rolly reminds me of Vic Darchinyan. He's also the type of guy to throw power punches and Tank is the type of guy to throw power punches. Somebody is going to get knocked out in that fight, definitely.

"And I think it's going to be Rolly because Tank is the sharper fighter, the quicker fighter, and the more fundamentally-sound fighter."