NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 01: Gervonta Davis and Lamont Roach Jr. meet in the center of the ring … [+] after their bout for Davis’ WBA lightweight title at Barclays Center on March 01, 2025 in New York City. The bout was called a majority draw. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
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In the lead-up to Saturday’s Gervonta “Tank” Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr. fight, Davis, who sported a 30-0 record and held the WBA lightweight title, spoke openly about retiring from the sport by the end of 2025. The 30-year-old Davis seemed to change his attitude following his controversial majority draw fight with Roach at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Gervonta Davis On Retirement In 2024
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 05: Gervonta Davis reacts during a press conference with Lamont Roach Jr. … [+] at Burr Gymnasium on the campus of Howard University on December 05, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Timothy Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
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In December 2024, Davis, speaking at a press conference for Saturday’s matchup with Roach said, “After next year, I’m out of it. Yeah, out of this sport… (Expletive) is trash. This (expletive) is trash, garbage. Fed up. I’m fed up with the whole (expletive)… I just want to be able to make money and stay out the way, that’s it. I want to be living without being seen.”
“That’s why I don’t want to box no more,” Davis added. “I want to do therapy, right? But I feel as though, if I do therapy, it would lose the fire that I have inside of me. I want everything out of me where so I don’t never think about fighting again, I don’t think about even getting angry. Because I have two girls, two daughters. I want to be much softer, be more humble and things like that.”
Gervonta Davis On Retirement Following Davis Vs. Roach
Davis retained his title on Saturday night, but did so, not with a victory, but with a majority draw. Following the event, which broke records for attendance at Barclays Center, Davis told the media, “Yeah, it definitely changed my plans,” Davis said with a laugh. “It definitely changed my plans. I probably got like four more fights now. For sure.”
Davis Vs. Roach Fight Recap And Controversy
As expected, the fight between Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Lamont Roach Jr. started slowly. Neither fight seemed anxious to engage, with neither fighter landing more than eight punches in a round until Davis connected 11 times in the sixth stanza. The slow start from Roach seemed designed to draw out the usually reluctant Davis, who tends to use the early rounds of his battles to get information on his opponents. Roach did not provide much data for Davis to download. At the same time, Roach’s reluctance to engage allowed Davis to pick up a lead heading into the fight’s second half. Had Roach been more aggressive in the early rounds, he might have left the arena as a two-weight champion. After all, he moved up from 130 pounds, where he is the WBA champ, to face Davis on Saturday.
That’s not to find fault with Roach’s game plan, which worked well. While he showed the hard-hitting Davis respect, he never seemed to fear the champ, and at several points in the fight, Roach let Davis know that he would give as good as he got, landing several heavy blows that seemed to set Davis on his back foot.
The most controversial point of the fight came in the ninth round when Davis clearly took a knee. After his knee touched the canvas, he ran to his corner, where they wiped at his eye with a towel. The referee did not score the knee as a knockdown, and the fight continued. After the bout, Davis said he had gotten some grease from his hair in his eye. It’s hard to say that Roach would have won the fight had a knockdown been scored because we don’t know how Davis would have fought the final rounds, but not scoring it a knockdown seemed to be the wrong move.
“I just got my hair done two days ago, and she put grease in my (expletive),” Davis said after the fight. “When you are sweating and (expletive) like that, the grease came into my face and it burnt my eyes.”
Roach’s confidence and poise throughout the fight helped him a great deal. Davis seemed close to having his opponent frustrated in the fifth and sixth rounds with his trash-talking, but Roach quickly returned to his measured attack after that, turning up the pressure in the later rounds and coming very close to unseating the champ.
Davis retained his belt with the fight’s outcome, but his record dropped to 30-0-1 with 28 knockouts. Roach’s stock undoubtedly went up with his excellent performance, and it will be a surprise if a rematch is not scheduled between these two.
After the fight, both men said they hoped a rematch could be scheduled. The fight was Davis’ fourth at Barclays Center. He had scored knockouts in his three previous appearances at the Brooklyn arena.
“I’m a little disappointed in the decision, I thought I pulled it off,” Roach said after the fight. “But that is what happens sometimes when two skilled fighters get in there and do what they do.
“I definitely thought I won, hopefully we can run it back, but Gervonta is a great fighter.”
“Nobody likes a draw from a guy that gets knockouts” Davis said after the fight. But it’s cool. I feel like if we fight again I could do more. I should of done more. I lost track of the rounds. That’s why we need [ring girls]… I didn’t know what round it was, facts.”
Roach entered the contest as a massive betting underdog.
Davis Vs. Roach Fight Card Results – Official Scorecards
Davis Vs. Roach: Roach On No Knockdown
“Obviously, I wanna go back and watch it, but clearly in there, man, I thought I won,” Roach said after the fight. “I thought I did enough to get the victory over a spectacular fighter. I told y’all from the beginning that I got the skills to pay the (expletive) bills. I’ve been telling y’all that. And I’m just glad I got to show it, honestly.”
“I appreciate the true boxing media, some guys that didn’t count me out. So that’s just how I feel, man. I think I won. And I can’t wait to do it again. I can’t wait to dance again.”
We will have more on the Davis vs. Roach fight card and possible rematch as story develops as well as any news on Davis’ possible retirement.
