Articles - Davis beats Dark Angel | Ryan Dangerous Davis

Davis beats 'Dark Angel'

By DENNIS TAYLOR

The Monterey Herald

He has sparred with "Sugar" Shane Mosley, Jose Celaya and others, but Ryan "Dangerous" Davis had a unique kind of challenge on his hands Saturday night in James Buggs, whose style in the ring, by design, is pure Joe Frazier.

"I've been told that a lot," Buggs said. "I'm not a real tall fighter, so I've actually patterned my style after Frazier."

Davis, from Granite City, Ill. -- a suburb of East St. Louis, Mo. -- survived his first career knockdown in the opening round and rallied to a unanimous-decision victory over the bobbing, weaving, aggressive fighter who calls himself "The Dark Angel."

Davis used ring movement, sharp jabs and effective combinations to fend off the explosive Buggs, who did some damage with solid shots to both the body and head.

Davis turned the fight in the fourth round when he scored a knockdown against Buggs, who had had a point deducted seconds earlier for throwing his second low blow of the bout.

"He was tough, and he showed up in shape," said Davis, who improved to 13-2 with the win. "I've fought a lot of guys in St. Louis, but they're not as tough as the guys out here. I always have to bring my A-game when I come to California."

Davis was controlling the opening round with good ring generalship when Buggs caught him with a hard right hand at the 2-minute mark.

"It was more of a flash knockdown than anything else. He caught me while I was up tall, with my leg behind me. I was a little bit off balance and went down, but I wasn't hurt."

Davis appeared to win the second round, and the third was close, but the fourth round was pivotal.

The first momentum swing came when Buggs hammered Davis below the belt for the second time in the fight and had a point deducted 20 seconds into the round. Ten seconds later, Davis put Buggs down with a left to the head, followed by a whistling right.

"He hit me in my shoulder and I slipped," Buggs said. "The referee said he had to rule it a knockdown because my glove touched the ground. Other than that, I won that fight. I know I won it, and everybody who saw it knows I won. The way I saw it, he only won one of the six rounds."

All three judges scored the fight 56-55 for Davis. Buggs, from East Oakland, dropped to 5-3 with the loss.