Boxing

Gervonta Davis Answers Whether Rematch vs Lamont Roach Jr Is Next

Gervonta "Tank" Davis and Lamont Roach Jr. fought to a majority draw on Saturday night.

Nathaniel Marrero

IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Gervonta "Tank" Davis was nearly on the wrong end of one of the biggest upsets in boxing history against Lamont "The Reaper" Roach Jr.

Davis and Roach Jr. fought to a majority draw on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Eric Malinski scored the bout 115-113 in favor of Tank, while Steve Weisfeld and Glenn Feldman scored the bout 114-114. With the draw, Tank retained his WBA lightweight title.

On the heels of the razor-thin decision that nearly saw Davis suffer the first loss of his career, a rematch likely should be next for both fighters after they each called for one after the decision was announced. Instead, Tank (30-0-1, 28 KOs) said a second bout with Roach Jr. (25-1-2, 10 KOs) won't be next at the post-fight press conference.

"It's definitely the one I want next but it's not going to be next."

- Gervonta David

A close decision either way would have sufficed if there wasn't any controversy. Unfortunately, as is often the case in boxing, controversy was front and center between Davis and Roach Jr.

As the action was beginning to pick up in the second half of the fight, Tank took a knee momentarily after Roach Jr. landed a punch early in the ninth round. Tank then went to his corner to have his face wiped off with a towel, then referee Steve Willis went to begin a count. After some negotiating and pleading from Davis, the action resumed without a knockdown being called, though, that's how Willis should have ruled it.

Feldman and Marlinski scored the ninth round in favor of Davis, while Weisfeld gave the round to Roach Jr. Had the round been scored a 10-8 in favor of Roach, he would have won by unanimous decision.

If Davis is going to bypass a rematch with Roach Jr., one would hope it's so he could land a unification bout with one of the fellow lightweight champions, Vasiliy Lomancnko, Shakur Stevenson or Keyshawn Davis.

But if Roach Jr. is passed up for anything other than Tank fighting in a unification bout or moving up to fight for a belt at 140 pounds, he's likely going to continue to hear it from boxing fans until the next time he steps in the ring.

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Nathaniel Marrero
NATHANIEL MARRERO

Nathaniel Marrero is a writer for the Boxing, Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Ravens On SI sites. He's also written for the Orlando Sentinel and MLB.com, and was a part of UCF's sports show, Hitting The Field. He attended UCF and graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 2023. Twitter/X: Nate_Marrero