In June 2024, Gervonta Davis defended his WBA lightweight title against the undefeated Frank Martin. Tank showed a very good performance. Martin kept the champion at arm’s length for a long time and moved well, but in the end Davis’ pressure did its job: Gervonta still caught up with Frank and knocked him out.
After this, there was talk of possible unification fights with Shakur Stevenson and Vasily Lomachenko. In the case of the latter, everything was very even, but Loma refused to fight for a very strange reason for a professional boxer: lack of motivation. This would not only be an excellent fight overall for fans of the sport, but also an excellent test of Davis’ true level, as there were and are questions about him regarding the opposition.
Gervonta’s victory over Martín was spectacular:
The tank knocked out another opponent! Davis is now 30-0 as a professional.
It’s no secret that Gervonta is being promoted and marketed very competently. There’s nothing wrong with that, and Tank is already a big star with the potential to become a superstar, but to do so he needs big names on his resume who are known even outside of the boxing community. Of them, in recent years Davis only had Ryan García and, incidentally, Isaac Cruz, a good boxer, but not particularly known to the general public.
And next up for Gervonta is his compatriot Lamont Roach. The WBA has already sanctioned the fight and it will take place on December 14 in Las Vegas. And such an opponent is a very bad choice for a person who is positioned as a star. Yes, Roach is also a WBA world champion, but he will move up from super lightweight for this fight. Davis has experience beating underweight opponents, but his selection of such opponents inevitably draws criticism. Not only is Lamont not a puncher, but he will also lose power here. In addition, Roach already has things to do in his division: a fight with the mandatory challenger in the person of Albert Batyrgaziev is coming up there. However, of course, it is not surprising that Lamont decided to accept a more money-rich fight.
Lamont Roach
Photo: David Becker/Getty Images
But Davis doesn’t look very good in this situation. He is literally following the path of Saúl Álvarez, who is constantly criticized for his opposition. It is true that Canelo started doing this when he was a superstar and absolute world champion, and Davis, with all due respect, has not yet reached such heights. And this is one of the biggest problems in boxing: the best don’t want to fight the best and avoid each other at all costs. This doesn’t apply to everyone, there are exceptions, but most champions now do just that.
Gervonta has already held the WBA belt for four years, but has yet to make any moves to unify the belts; He is happy with everything as it is. It is also very convenient to include a rehydration clause in fight contracts. For example, Frank Martin and Ryan Garcia were prohibited from gaining more than 5.4 kg after weigh-in. And for Davis himself, this is quite comfortable: he is smaller and does not earn as much on his own.
This seems like a safe way to manage Davis’ career, but fans will most likely be upset to see the announcement of Tank’s fight with Roach. Davis is perhaps the hardest puncher there has ever been in the lightweight division, he is a truly excellent boxer, has a lot of skills in the ring and is absolutely capable of giving everyone great fights against the best opponents. And there are definitely options for good fights for the Tank, you just have to wait a little. This shouldn’t be a problem either: Davis had periods where he fought one fight a year. However, the American chooses the path of least resistance, which is a bit disappointing. Defending the belt against Roach will do literally nothing for Gervonta other than add another number to his record.
If Davis is determined to become a superstar, he needs to rethink his approach. There is nothing wrong if a boxer took a conditional break and signed up for a fight with a more convenient opponent. But it is very bad when this happens continuously. Unfortunately, Gervonta is doing just that. We can only hope that after Roach we will see Davis fight a real top, and preferably the opponent will be in Tank’s weight class.
