Gervonta Davis narrowly escapes losing the title after a majority decision against Lamont Roach.
Gervonta “Tank” Davis was lucky to leave the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as WBA World Lightweight Champion. His fight against Lamont Roach ended in a draw after a controversial majority decision.
Roach (25-1-2, 10 knockouts) moved up from super featherweight, where he is currently WBA world champion, to face the unbeaten Davis (30-0-1, 28 knockouts). The fight caused controversy, especially in round 9 when Davis went down on one knee after a precise jab from Roach. But referee Steve Willis only counted to two, then suddenly stopped the count and allowed Davis to have his trainer wipe his face with a towel in his corner.
Precipitation not counted
In a bizarre twist, Willis allowed Davis’ corner to take care of their protégé without counting the knockdown as such! Had the knockdown been counted correctly, Roach would have won the ninth round 10-8 to capture the title in a second weight class. The officials scored the fight 115-113 for Davis and 114-114 twice.
Davis had hinted before the fight that he might end his boxing career, but he appears to have reversed that decision to give Roach a rematch.
“Lamont is a great fighter. He has the skills and, as I said, the punch,” explained Davis. “That was a lesson for me. Credit to Lamont Roach and his whole team. Hopefully we can do it again in New York. Let’s do it again, baby!”