GRADES: GERVONTA DAVIS, HECTOR GARCIA, JARON ENNIS, ROIMAN VILLA, DEMETRIUS ANDRADE & MORE

By: Jay Calderon

We had a slew of fights over the weekend, with some interesting performances in the nation's capital.

At the Capital One Arena in D.C., Gervonta Davis vs. Hector Garcia headlined a stacked pay-per-view show that featured a solid mix of established names and up-and-comers.

Perhaps most interesting about the broadcast was the number of fights with presumed winners. While the majority of contests went the way you would expect them to go, there were a few hiccups along the way.

So, without much more rambling, here are the Fighter Grades from this past weekend.

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GERVONTA DAVIS: B

RESULT: DEF. HECTOR GARCIA, 9TKO (LIGHTWEIGHT)

It wasn't a terrible performance.

Davis showed us what he has in terms of power, including completely disorientating Garcia by the end of the eighth round with less than a handful of shots. He also showed some patience when Garcia was making himself a more difficult target early on.

One of the more underrated components to Davis' game is his counter-punching ability. To some extent, that was also on display, especially as Garcia attempted to sit down on his own shots a bit more.

However, where Davis suffers is two-fold, with the first part being out of his hands. For starters, with such an abrupt ending to the contest, you're left with a slightly dissatisfying conclusion after a relatively competitive encounter. While that's not terrible, when you're a 14-1 favorite and struggle to find the target for more than half the fight until your opponent stands and trades a bit more, it's not ideal.

Ultimately, with Garcia moving up and being such a massive underdog, you're likely to look a little less than great if you're Davis unless it's a complete bulldozing. Wasn't terrible, just wasn't truly great, either.

HECTOR GARCIA: C-

RESULT: LOSS TO GERVONTA DAVIS, 9TKO (LIGHTWEIGHT)

If judging just the first six rounds of this fight, this grade might have been in the B+ to A- range. However, a frame or two can really change things around.

Initially, Garcia made himself a difficult target, and managed to sneak in tricky shots on the inside that Davis couldn't quite avoid. Garcia was also being very crafty in terms of his movement, backing up at times and knowing just when to turn in order to avoid the ropes.

However, in those middle rounds, Garcia was circling into the power of Garcia, was standing and trading, and getting hit far more as a result. In the eighth round, when the fight effectively came to a close, Garcia was getting tagged far more frequently, and was badly stunned to end the frame.

While Garcia was troubled, the shots didn't look too bad at first glance, but he complained of impaired vision. Giving him the benefit of the doubt is why I don't have this grade any lower, but said grade definitely took a hit due to the quick ending.

JARON ENNIS: B-

RESULT: DEF. KAREN CHUKHADZHIAN, 12UD (WELTERWEIGHT)

When a guy loses maybe a single round in a twelve round encounter, it's hard to give him much less than a B. Especially because he wasn't really in danger of the fight slipping away at all.

And in spurts, Ennis showed some of his brilliance, the stuff that many believe will take him to the top of the weight division. He showed speed, dynamic upper body movement, and an ability to take a shot when needed.

However, that last point was a little bit of the issue.

Due to overcommitting, especially early, Ennis was tagged a few times -- more than you'd like to see as a fighter inches towards a title shot. He also took most of the battle to decide to attack the body and/or cut off the ring on a moving target. In fairness, these are quality rounds that a fighter needs to develop. Still, it shows that Ennis has his areas where improvements can be made.

The good news is he seems to be a fighter willing to learn.

ROIMAN VILLA: B+

RESULT: DEF. RASHIDID ELLIS, 12MD (WELTERWEIGHT)

Let's start with the obvious: This wasn't a perfect performance from Villa.

For more than half of the fight, Villa seemed to have little answers for the speed and movement of Ellis and was tagged consistently as he attempted to walk forward and get something done.

However, when you're a +500 underdog and you continue to grind, ultimately salvaging a result in the final round or two of action, much of your fault's can be forgiven.

If you asked most after the first eight or nine rounds if Villa had much of a chance at all heading down the stretch, very few would have suggested he did. However, that strong close in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, pushed him just over the line and earned him a close, close decision.

RASHIDI ELLIS: C

RESULT: LOSS TO ROIMAN VILLA, 12MD (WELTERWEIGHT)

Some could argue this grade is much different if Rashidi had made two changes that he failed to make down the stretch of Saturday.

For starters, if he had sat down on his punches a bit more, one presumes he might have staved off Villa long enough to hear the final bell a bit more intact. With all of his movement, Ellis was simply taking too much off his shots, not giving Villa enough to think about.

He also could have used a bit more in-fighting -- or, even some holding -- when in close, hoping to delay and waste some time. However, he gambled, giving Villa the same look for twelve rounds, and it inevitably led to an ending that cost Ellis the fight and his undefeated record.

It wasn't a complete disaster, but it quickly turned into a result Ellis might have been able to avoid.

DEMETRIUS ANDRADE: B

RESULT: DEF. DEMOND NICHOLSON, 10UD (SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT)

There was nothing wrong with the performance of Demetrius Andrade. Not really, anyway.

He showed some decent pop at his new weight division of 168 pounds, and he still has most of the speed and movement he has displayed at Jr. Middleweight and Middleweight. He didn't really let a single round slip away in the contest.

However, Andrade didn't show much in the way of any new wrinkles. It was a prototypical Andrade performance. He did just enough to get the job done -- not much more at all -- and coasted to what everyone expected would be a decision.

The only alarm bell could be that Nicholson seemed to cause a flash knockdown with a body shot. While it was ruled a slip, Andrade admitted post-fight that he could feel the new weight.

But, again, nothing wrong with the performance overall. Nothing wrong, just nothing special at all.

QUICK GRADES:

KAREN CHUKHADZHIAN: C+

DEMOND NICHOLSON: D