Gervonta Davis is still a man in high-demand despite his most recent legal troubles.
The 30-year-old from Baltimore was recently arrested on a domestic violence charge, throwing his immediate future in the sport into doubt once again and losing him fans across the sport.
Should he clear his name and push on with his career, he will be expected to continue plans to face Lamont Roach Jr in a rematch following their first controversial bout. If ‘Tank’ can beat Roach and retain his WBA Lightweight World Title, there is a hall of famer waiting in the wings.
Manny Pacquiao returns this weekend to challenge Mario Barrios for the WBC Welterweight belt, looking to break the a record he previously set himself to become the division’s oldest champion.
Speaking to the Ring Magazine, he confirmed that Davis is a target should he win.
“I like the Davis fight, but let’s finish Barrios first. It’s nothing personal. I am just doing my job. One at a time. We’ll talk about it after the fight.”
Pacquiao’s manager Sean Gibbons was more willing to discuss the fight, boasting that his man will beat Barrios to set it up.
“That’s the dream. We were close at one time to fighting Davis. We were talking but we couldn’t come to an agreement on a couple things and the timing didn’t work out.
“If Pacquiao beats Barrios and Davis beats Roach, I think that’s the fight. The people would be really intrigued. You couldn’t sell it as much before Pacquiao fought Barrios because everyone was saying Gervonta is a beast, but Gervonta got exposed a little bit and had a bad night against Roach, and the shine is off a little bit. If Manny shows brilliance against Barrios, they are going to buy into a Tank fight in a heartbeat.”
The discussion with Pacquiao and Gibbons took place before Davis’ arrest.
Roach and ‘Tank’ were finalising a deal for August 16, however it has now been reported that the rematch will be pushed back and may be in jeopardy entirely.
