There were plenty of talking points following Saturday’s mega fight between Gervonta Davis and Lamont Roach – in particular, a key incident during the fight and the outcome.
Davis was held to a majority draw (115-113, 114-114, 114-114) by Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs), who had stepped up from a lower weight class especially for this bout.
Roach jab causes Tank to hit the canvas
The controversial moment occurred in the ninth round when Roach struck Davis just above his right eye with a jab. It caused Tank to voluntarily take a knee and referee Steve Willis to start a mandatory 10-count. Willis got to three before Davis went to his corner to get his face wiped by his coaches.
Technically, it was a knockdown although could be interpreted as “a slip” and Davis was not penalized with a point deduction on the scorecards. As he explained afterwards, Roach’s jab had caused a mixture of sweat and hair grease to trickle down from his forehead, stinging his right eye and affecting his sight.
But Roach was having none of it. “He’s [Davis] saying grease got in his eye, but if he takes a knee and the ref starts counting, it should be a knockdown.”
Davis knockdown to be reviewed
The New York Athletic Commission has announced that it will investigate the case. “At this time, the New York State Athletic Commission is reviewing the matter involving Saturday’s match up between Lamont Roach and Gervonta Davis,” the commission said in a statement issued to to MMA Fighting. “During the round in question, following the commission’s request for the replay video, there was a technical issue preventing the commission from receiving it within the allotted time for review. Therefore, the referee’s in-ring decision was relied upon and the fight continued.
“The commission is dedicated to preserving the integrity of combative sports and is committed to working with all promotions and production teams — on behalf of the athletes, officials, and fans – to ensure technical issues do not occur in the future that prevent the delivery of ringside instant replay feeds to the commission’s officials when needed.”
Davis meanwhile has stated that he is up for a rematch, posting on X: “And say no more. I’m pushing for the rematch… the rematch can be soon too, like end of May.”
But realistically, it probably won’t be happening any time soon, as Tank conceded when taking questions from the media once his post-fight Adrenalin levels had subsided: “[The rematch] probably won’t be this year,” Davis said. “It’s definitely the fight I want next, but it’s not going to be next”.
