Malik Hawkins Vs. Subriel Matias: Can Hawkins Follow In ‘Tank’ Davis’ Footsteps And Become A Superstar?

When you’re a young fighter, just starting out on your pro career and with hardly any amateur acclaim to back up your name, the chances of you becoming a big star is unlikely. Some of the best known (and best performing) boxers in the world—Anthony Joshua, Vasiliy Lomachenko, and Oleksandr Usyk, for example—have impressive Olympic pedigrees, and they used their amateur notoriety to make an immediate splash on the pro scene. Others used national amateur titles to get signed by big-name promoters and managers. Malik Hawkins, who will face the biggest fight on the biggest stage of his career Saturday night on Showtime, has a good amateur pedigree, as well.

But even after 18 professional fights, you still probably haven’t been introduced to him. That’s because, though he won a national Golden Gloves championship, he wasn’t a lauded amateur. Therefore, he didn’t sign a major deal with a top promoter immediately. Therefore, he had to toil in national anonymity for the first five years of his career.

Until now. On the undercard of former junior welterweight titlist Sergey Lipinets’ return to the ring on Saturday, Hawkins (18-0, 11 KOs) will face power-punching Subriel Matias (15-1, 15 KOs) on the card opener. That’s Hawkins’ chance to make his mark on the national level.

“It’s kind of difficult. When you’re young and just starting to fight, unless you’re coming out of the Olympics, it’s hard,” the 140-pound Hawkins told me earlier this month. “Nobody knows who you are. You have to make your mark. There are a lot of things you have to do. You have to go to different cities and spar, go to different people’s training camps.”

What set Hawkins apart, at least slightly, than the rest of his amateur peers was who he knew. He and Gervonta “Tank” Davis had been schoolmates in Baltimore for much of their lives, and they worked out of the same gym. Davis, who fights on Oct. 31 vs. Leo Santa Cruz on Showtime PPV, shot to stardom after signing with Mayweather Promotions in 2015. Hawkins sparred with him, trained with him. Gradually, others came to know Hawkins as well. They just hadn’t really watched him fight. Even though Hawkins went 160-15 as an amateur and won a bronze medal in the 2012 Junior Olympics, he wasn’t a well-known entity.

Davis was becoming a nationally known fighter. Hawkins was still fighting on undercards vs. opponents with losing records.

Early in his career, Hawkins worked with Greg Cohen Promotions, but Cohen went to federal prison in January for six months after pleading guilty to wire fraud. In the midst of that controversy, Hawkins signed his own deal with Mayweather Promotions. Now, he and Davis fight under the same promotional banner. Now, he also has the chance to become a known entity in the sport.

“It will be a test of time. There are a billion boxers out there. I believe Mayweather Promotions is the perfect platform to help Malik stand out from the rest,” his trainer, Calvin Ford, said when Hawkins signed his deal.

Since then, Hawkins knocked out All Rivera in the first round and won by fifth-round TKO against the undefeated Darwin Price last December after Price, who had basically shut out Hawkins through the first four rounds, suffered a knee injury.

Against Matias, it won’t get any easier. So far, though, Showtime has liked what it’s seen from Hawkins, who is a slight -120 favorite vs. Matias. Earlier this year, Hawkins was supposed to headline a ShoBox card, but he had to pull out because of kidney issues that Hawkins said nearly killed him.

“I was scared. I haven’t ever been that scared in my life,” he said. “I could have been on dialysis. The first thing that came to mind was that I know people on dialysis, and they’re on dialysis for life. That was my first thought.”

Now, Hawkins, who said he’s fully recovered from his ailments, gets his shot on Showtime anyway.

“He was on our radar early on and probably more on our radar as we got more into business with Tank and spent more time in Baltimore and saw him a little bit in the gym,” Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza told me recently. “He’s an outgoing young kid, very skilled, very athletic. He’s still growing and maturing as a boxer. He has all the tools. He has all the markers we look for. We’re being patient, as we should be and as he should be. But he could be in a position for some very meaningful fights within the next year or 18 months.”

There’s even less doubt in Davis’ mind about Hawkins’ potential. And Davis should certainly know.

“He’s definitely a guy who can be world class,” Davis told me earlier this month. “He’s got the skills. He’s got the personality. People probably haven’t seen it yet, but as far as skill-wise and boxing-wise, he’s got the whole package to become a world champion.”

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