On Saturday night, March 1, the world’s lightweight worldwide champion “Tank” Davis was involved in a highly competitive battle against Lamont Roach Jr, and at the end of the 12 round contest, the fight declared a majority raffle.
Initially, the confrontation received great criticism due to the fact that Lamont Roach was an unknown name. In addition to the lack of name recognition, Roach was the third fighter in the last four years that emerged from a lower weight class to face Davis.
Boxing fans that were sold immediately in this fight, accepted the confrontation due to the rivalry of Baltimore-Washington DC. The defending champion Gervonta Davis is from Baltimore, and Challenger Lamont Roach is originally from Washington DC.
On the night of fighting, Gervonta Davis had its traditional start, since he only managed to get a blow to the first round. After the first round, the action picked up when most exchanges between Davis and Roach took place inside their pocket.
In the eighth Ronda, Lamont Roach had a great moment when he landed a counter of the right hand that backed Davis. The controversy would enter the fight during Ronda 9 when Davis was beaten by a jab, then stepped back and knelt. Davis proceeded to trot to his corner for his face to clean.
Tank Davis was lucky that the referee did not rule the knee as a fall, and penalty was not applied because Davis cleaned his face. It seemed that Roach could have exceeded Davis, during the course of the fight, but at the end of the contest, the three judges scored him as a majority raffle.
A few days later, Lamont Roach’s lawyer sent a letter to the Athletic Commission of the State of New York requesting that they annul the result due to the demolition controversy. A decision has not yet been revealed, but fans of the fight anticipate that a rematch between Davis and Roach will happen in the near future.
Lamont Roach (25-1-2, 10 kos) is a highly skilled boxer that converted many skeptics into believers. The Gervonta Davis vs. saga Lamont Roach has all the elements of a past boxing situation that began to develop approximately twenty -three years ago.
From the mid -90s to the early 2000s, Florida’s native, Roy Jones Jr, was a superstar boxer who was considered one of the best pound fighters per pound in the world. While Jones was enjoying fame and glory, Antonio Tarver, a native of Florida, was placing Jones on his radar.
When growing in Florida, Antonio Tarver was very aware of Roy Jones, and on the night of November 8, 2003, he finally had the opportunity to share the ring with the iconic boxer. Trver proved to be a very difficult opponent, but unfortunately for Tarver he lost the fight by majority decision.
Six months later, in La Revancha, Antonio Tarver surprised the world when he landed a straight left hand, and scored a second -round knockout victory over Roy Jones Jones Jr. the two would find a third and last time in October 2005 when Tarver won by a unanimous decision.
Gervonta “Tank” Davis (30-0-1, 28 kos) is a boxer expert who organically built a huge fans base due to his ability to produce the outstanding road stroke. He is a popular world champion of multiple divisions that is recognized as one of the boxing faces.
Similar to Jones vs. Trver, Tank vs. fight Roach presented a superstar boxer in front of an childhood rival who is hungry and sought to take advantage of his great opportunity. Like Tarver, Lamont Roach gave his opponent superstar everything he could handle, but unfortunately for Roach he fell short from victory.
With all the controversy that surrounds the first fight, it seems that there will be a tank against Roach 2. If there is a second fight, the question is, can Lamont Roach follow the steps of Antonio Tarver and achieve the discomfort against a long rival that is a generational talent?
It is safe to say that Lamont Roach will not knock Davis in the second round of the rematch, but if Roach can double his patience, time and an effective internal game in the second fight, then he will have a solid opportunity to achieve the enormous alteration.
Last update on 07/07/2025