Baltimore judge spares boxing champ Gervonta Davis jail time for probation violation: ‘You need to wake up’
Davis, 30, now of Parkland, Florida, traveled to Baltimore without approval from his probation agent
A Baltimore judge on Wednesday spared World Boxing Association lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis jail time after he admitted to violating his probation for a hit-and-run that injured four people, including a pregnant woman.
Circuit Judge Althea M. Handy instead extended his probation for 18 months and directed him to make a $10,000 donation to the Community Assistance Network.
Davis, 30, now of Parkland, Florida, admitted that he left the Sunshine State without approval to travel. His probation agent in Maryland happened to see him eating dinner on Jan. 22 at Proper Cuisine on East Redwood Street near South Calvert Street in Downtown Baltimore — less than a half-mile from the Clarence M. Mitchell and Elijah E. Cummings courthouses.
Handy said Davis’ probation agent in Florida has been generous and approved travel passes for him to go to the U.S. Virgin Islands — twice.
Plus, Handy noted, she granted him permission to attend the 2024 Paris Olympic Games to support and advise Team USA boxing. But she denied his request to travel to Japan for his 30th birthday.
At the same time, Handy said, she did not know what sentencing him to additional jail time would accomplish.
“I don’t like sending anyone to jail, sir. I really don’t,” Handy said. “But you need to wake up.”
“Please,” she later added, “I don’t ever want to see you in court again.”
The hearing marked the latest chapter in the legal saga for the boxer, who grew up in West Baltimore and boasts a record of 30-0-1. He recently held onto his belt after fighting Lamont Roach to a majority draw.
Davis pleaded guilty in 2023 in Baltimore Circuit Court to four traffic offenses in the hit-and-run.
The crash happened at about 2 a.m. on Nov. 5, 2020, after he ran a red light at Martin Luther King Jr. and Washington boulevards in his 2020 Lamborghini Urus, hit a 2004 Toyota Solara and slammed into the fence of a 7-Eleven.
Handy sentenced Davis to 90 days of home detention plus three years’ probation, stating that he had demonstrated a “consistent pattern of disobeying the law.” He was supposed to stay at the home of Calvin Ford, his longtime coach and trainer.
But Handy later revoked Davis’ home detention after learning that he had been serving out the sentence in a Four Seasons Hotel and a $3.4 million penthouse condo in Locust Point.
In a now-deleted Instagram Live, Davis called Handy “crazy” and stated that she “locked me up because basically I bought a property.”
He spent more than six weeks in jail.
During Wednesday’s hearing, both of his probation agents recommended jail time.
Davis’ probation agent in Maryland, Kiya Yancey, said she often has to contact members of his team or his attorney to get in touch with him.
“He’s a grown man,” Handy said. “I don’t understand.”
Assistant State’s Attorney David Owens, chief of the Misdemeanor Jury Trial Unit, said he spoke with Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates about the case and he proposed a $25,000 fine.
“Is there a reason you spoke to State’s Attorney Bates about this matter?” Handy asked.
Owens replied that Bates assigned him to the case.
“So he is requesting a $25,000 fine?” Handy inquired. “Period.”
“Yes,” Owens responded.
Hunter Pruette, Davis’ attorney, implored the judge to spare his client jail time.
Davis, he said, has completed all the special requirements of probation and given back to the community in multiple ways.
“Obviously,” Pruette said, “it’s a regrettable decision.”
“It wasn’t under the guise of doing something illegal,” he added. “He was training.”
Davis apologized for his actions and reiterated that he had been training.
But Handy noted that Davis was at a restaurant with a group of people. His probation agent in Maryland just happened to spot him.
“You weren’t training,” she said. “You were out celebrating.”
He clarified that he had been training in Washington, D.C., but went to Baltimore for dinner.
Following two separate discussions at the bench, Handy handed down the sentence.
The only reason she wants to see him back in her courtroom, she said, is if he goes to law school and becomes an attorney.
