One of boxing’s most lethal punchers apparently is not nearly as enamored with knockouts as some might think. 

Gervonta Davis, the hard-hitting lightweight southpaw from Baltimore, says he would derive more satisfaction from dragging out a beating through 12 rounds than curtailing a fight with a stoppage.

Davis, 28, is coming off a ninth-round technical knockout of Hector Luis Garcia last Saturday night at Capitol One Arena in Washington D.C. Davis battered Garcia with power punches late in the eighth round, compelling the Dominican to retire on his stool heading into the ninth. On the Showtime Pay-Per-View telecast, Garcia could be heard telling his seconds that he was unable to see. Afterwar, in the post-fight interview in the ring, Garcia indicated that he was completely dazed but that his vision had returned.

When asked after the fight if seeing Garcia retire in his corner was more gratifying to him than his usual methods of termination, the undefeated Davis, who has stopped 26 of 28 of his opponents, said that was not necessarily the case.  

“I’d feel as though I’d rather beat someone up for 12 rounds than get the knockout,” Davis told SecondsOut. “[But] people like knockouts, so.”

A competitive fight for the first half of the fight, Davis began taking control through the middle rounds. Davis landed a booming left hand in the 8th round that appears to have been the shot responsible for Garcia’s troubles. Even Davis himself expressed mild surprise at the damage he did with that specific punch.

“Yeah, I knew it was a shot that hurt, but I didn’t know it was just like that,” Davis said. “Not knowing where you are is crazy. So, I did not know I hit him that hard.”

Davis said he tuned out the crowd’s notes of disapproval in the early rounds and focused on his game plan to approach Garcia with caution.

“I heard in the crowd, everybody was like tryna boo me and tryna boo the fight,” Davis said. “But my coach was, like, ' just stay calm. Break him down, round by round.'”

Davis now expected to face fellow lightweight star Ryan Garcia in a “super fight” in April. A date and venue has yet to be announced.