Gervonta “Tank” Davis escaped with a majority draw against Lamont Roach Jr. to retain his WBA lightweight title. Davis — who is recognized as the face of boxing alongside Canelo Alvarez — nearly relinquished the belt in a tougher-than-expected fight with an opponent he was expected to beat. Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) was unable to get the win in a performance that left fans wondering if he might be a little overrated.
Nevertheless, Davis remains undefeated despite his star power taking a hit after what took place Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Some of the biggest names in boxing have had a fight or two that ends up being closer than anticipated. Eventually, the bad taste from the night will rinse itself out and questions regarding what is next for one of the biggest stars in boxing will surface.
First and foremost: Should Davis give Roach an immediate rematch?
This is really tricky. Right now, everyone who watched this fight will nod their head in agreement that Roach deserves to get another shot at Davis as soon as possible. Roach performed far above expectations, and the prevailing thought is that his style gave Davis problems. After the fight, Davis said he would welcome a rematch. However, at the news conference after the fight, he wasn’t that optimistic about the timing.
“[The rematch with Roach] probably won’t be this year,” Davis said. “It’s definitely the fight I want next, but it’s not going to be next.”
There won’t be many to take Roach as the favorite heading into a potential rematch. Instead, there will be more blame placed on Davis for taking Roach lightly the first time. The expectation for a rematch is that order will be restored, with Tank handling business just as he was expected to in the first fight. Some will say Roach was robbed, but the reality is that it was a close fight. The fight was reminiscent of Floyd Mayweather’s first bout with Jose Luis Castillo in 2002, when many thought Castillo did enough to hand “Pretty Boy” the first loss of his career. Mayweather escaped with a decision victory and won handily when the rematch happened seven months later.
The difference is that Mayweather was still on the rise, but Tank is already a certified star. There wouldn’t be much to gain in a rematch for Davis aside from setting his mind at ease. Roach isn’t a huge star, and the financial upside would be limited. Unless Davis is obsessed with righting the wrongs of the fight, he will likely think better of a rematch and pursue other options.
So, whom does he fight next?
There’s an obvious showdown with Shakur Stevenson that would be a massive battle between an offensive dynamo and a defensive specialist. However, with Stevenson now aligned with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing and working with boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, the fight is difficult to make. Davis hasn’t minced words on how he feels about potentially working with Alalshikh, which makes the possibility of a fight with Stevenson seem remote at best. The same could be said for 140-pound champion Teofimo Lopez Jr., who is part of the May 2 tripleheader in Times Square alongside Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia.
That doesn’t leave Davis with a lot of options at 140 pounds under the Premier Boxing Champions banner. He could pursue a world title against WBC junior welterweight champion Alberto Puello, who defeated Sandor Martin on the undercard. But there might be less interest in Davis picking up a world title at 140 pounds than in a rematch with Roach. Though a fight with Top Rank’s Keyshawn Davis to unify belts at 135 pounds would appeal to hardcore boxing fans, the WBO lightweight champion is still building toward being a household name and not recognizable to the casual fight fan. It’s highly unlikely a fight with Vasiliy Lomachenko would materialize, either, because Lomachenko is contemplating retirement. But a Davis-Lomachenko fight would have a significant amount of cache should the 37-year-old decide to take another bout.
There are no clear options for Davis’ next fight. Unless he lowers his guard and plays ball with Alalshikh, he probably won’t get a high-profile opponent who would net him a bigger fight purse than the Roach rematch. He can take on a lesser name, but fight fans are growing restless with Davis not facing the best fighters between 135 and 140 pounds.
The reality is that Davis’ name carries enough weight to sell out arenas (19,250 in attendance Saturday) and pull in solid pay-per-view numbers without a high-profile opponent attached. He might want the eventual rematch with Roach because the draw is nagging at him.
But let’s see how he feels next month.
