Lamont Roach Jr shared his thoughts on the punching power of Gervonta Davis after their controversial 12-round contest.
WBA world lightweight champion Davis was last in action when he fought to a majority decision draw against Roach at the Barclays Center in New York City last March. Many felt he should have lost his belt that night, particularly as he took a knee mid-fight but got away with it not being classed as a knockdown. Despite not winning, Roach became just the third man to take ‘Tank’ the distance in 31 bouts.
The 31-year-old from Baltimore was then pencilled in to make his return to the ring back in November, skipping a Roach rematch for an exhibition clash with Jake Paul. It was cancelled after he found himself at the center of domestic violence allegations.
Speaking on All The Smoke Fight, Roach summed up the power of ‘Tank’ Davis, claiming he expected his countryman to ‘hit harder.’
“When he actually hit me clean, I was like ‘alright, if that happens again is it going to be like this? Let’s test this out again.’ Not to get hit but let’s see what we’re working with. I hit him with a clean body shot and he was like ‘I thought you hit harder than that.’ I was like ‘I thought you hit harder than that, you’re a knockout artist!’ I went back to my corner and said ‘I got him.’”
Davis may now look to put a difficult 12 months behind him and get his career back on track. The 31-year-old could return to action in 2026, announcing his interest in a rematch with Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, who recently fought to a draw against Roach.
