Gervonta Davis retained his WBA Lightweight World Title last night in Brooklyn with many feeling challenger Lamont Roach Jr should have taken the win.
The fight was close and competitive, with Roach impressing as the rounds went on and ‘Tank’ Davis unable to land his incredible power shots that have put 28 of his 31 opponents out.
There was extreme controversy in round nine when the champion took a knee, got up, went to his corner, had his face wiped and continued on. Bizarrely, referee Steve Willis did not call a knockdown – something that would’ve made the difference for roach on the final scorecards of 115-113 for Davis and 114-114 X2.
In the aftermath, ‘Tank’ attempted to explain before calling for a rematch.
“I got my hair done two days ago and she put grease in it. It burned my eyes. Why are you booing like this is bulls**t. It’s real facts.”
“Hopefully we can run it back for sure. Let’s bring it back to New York and have the rematch for sure. I think I pulled it off with the last three rounds for sure. I was catching him with some clean shots.
“I was breaking him down as the fight went on. I didn’t want to make mistakes so I kept it cautious. He is a great fighter and has the skills. It was a lesson.”
Ryan Garcia, whose only professional loss came at the heavy hands of Davis, took to social media to air his views on the matter, saying, “Lamont won that” and branded the knee incident the “wildest thing I’ve ever seen.”
He also, as most did, criticised Willis.
“Lamont won that. Not calling that knockdown is the most wild thing I ever seen in boxing, that type of stuff makes boxing look bad.”
Whether or not Roach gets his rematch should become clear in the coming weeks.
