The fallout from the controversial draw between Gervonta Davis and Lamont Roach Jr shows no signs of going away.
Roach was stepped up one weight class to challenge ‘Tank’ for his WBA lightweight title and went into the clash as the heavy underdog. However, the 29-year-old from Washington pushed Davis all the way and, although the judges scored a majority draw, there was one pivotal moment that defined the contest.
In the ninth round, Davis took a knee after a jab from Roach and retreated to his corner for his face to be wiped, but referee Steve Willis stopped his count and opted not to score it as a knockdown. That decision proved crucial as a 10-8 round for Roach would have given him the victory on the night. An appeal to the NYSAC for the result to be overturned has been rejected.
Speaking on his podcast ‘The PorterWay’, former welterweight champion, Shawn Porter encouraged people to rewatch the fight after agreeing with the judges that a draw was a fair result.
“For anybody that judged that fight and thought that Lamont won or thought that it was a draw go back and watch the fight again and actually see that there could have been points where you thought that because ‘Tank’ wasn’t in control that he just lost the round, it isn’t always that way, so just go back and watch it again.”
I haven’t watched it again, I had it scored a draw. Lamont fought a fantastic fight, if he had won the fight I would not have argued, if he had lost the fight then I would have argued because of that one moment in the fight, that was a legitimate knockdown, but outside of that I had it scored a draw.”
The two are now likely to run it back this summer with both men stating their desire for an immediate rematch.
