Legendary analyst and trainer Teddy Atlas has revealed his winner of the Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach showdown.
WBA lightweight champion ‘Tank’ Davis and Roach fought to a majority decision draw at the Barclays Center in New York on Saturday night, in what was a highly competitive 12-round battle between the lightweight stars.
Roach put on the performance of a lifetime against Davis, who had beaten all 30 of his prior opponents and claimed stoppage victories over 28 of them.
The moment of the fight came in the ninth round when the 30-year-old from Baltimore, Maryland took a knee after being on the receiving end of a stiff jab from Roach, although referee Steve Willis did not actually rule this as a knockdown in what has been dubbed as a bizarre decision by fans and pundits globally.
In light of this controversial clash between the pair which has captured the attention of much of the boxing community, Atlas has spoken out and revealed who he believed was winning the fight then the final bell rang.
Speaking on his own YouTube channel THE FIGHT, Atlas admitted that although he thought the fight was very close, he believed that Roach had won enough rounds to be declared the winner.
“Listen I’m not saying it wasn’t a close fight, it was, but I think I’m gonna give it to Roach. I’d have to look at it again to be completely transparent, but I got to give it to Roach.”
On the controversial knee that wasn’t counted as a knockdown, Atlas put the blame firmly with the referee.
“He took a knee. He got hit with a jab before that, that constitutes technically as a knock down. The referee blew it. The referee blew that. He blew that. That’s a 10-8 round and he should be the champion right now.”
There have been many calls for the rematch to take place next, including from Roach himself, although the 29-year-old from Washington, D.C. has also admitted he would be interest in facing WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson next, if he is unable to secure a deserved second opportunity against ‘Tank’ Davis.
