Gervonta Davis Officially Receives New Date For His Next Fight
Gervonta “Tank” Davis fans will have to wait a little longer for the WBA lightweight champion’s return to the ring. On Friday, November 29, Premier Boxing Champions released information indicating Davis would defend his title against Lamont Roach Jr. on March 1 in a pay-per-view card on Prime. The event will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Roach has been the opponent for months, but the date has shifted from January to March, and the location from Houston to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Tank is no stranger to the Barclays Center. The undefeated pound-for-pound contender has scored three explosive stoppage victories at the venue. Davis has become one of boxing’s biggest stars, with a growing fanbase and reputation as one of the sport’s hardest hitters. His exploits in Brooklyn have played a role in his rise.
In January 2017, Davis knocked out Jose Pedraza at the Barclays to win the IBF Super Featherweight title.
In April 2018, Tank destroyed Jesus Cuellar in four rounds in Brooklyn. In Tank’s most recent visit to the Barclays in May 2022, he found himself in a firefight with Rolando Romero.
Tank got the KO victory in the sixth round, but he was trailing on one scorecard at the time of the stoppage.
No matter the location, Davis will be heavily favored over Roach, who is a champion at featherweight and coming up in weight to face one of the most devastating punchers in the sport.
I spoke to Roach last month when the fight seemed to be much closer than it is now, and he sounded prepared for a bout that almost no one is giving him a chance to win.
“I know I’m the best,” Roach said when I asked him what made him confident taking on the challenge of fighting Tank. “I’m not a small 130-pounder for all the people that don’t know. On top of that, Tank is not a big guy. I’m probably bigger than him in stature; height and body mass-wise. It’s not really a big difference. I’ll be more comfortable at 135 pounds. It’s five pounds less to lose. That’s definitely one of the biggest factors.”
The undercard for the fight will be interesting. It hasn’t yet been announced, but with Riyadh Season planning a massive card on February 22, PBC might want to counter with a major show themselves.
The intriguing Errol Spence vs. Sebastian Fundora fight seems to be in limbo, as Spence posted on X recently that he hasn’t spoken to anyone in months. Spence might be trolling fans, but if things were placed on the back burner with PBC, the change to the date and location of the Tank fight might have something to do with the switch.
It’s amazing how two relative outsiders, Turki Alalshikh and Jake Paul, have bulldozed their way into boxing, disrupted the flow of things, and are now seemingly influencing the moves of decision-makers who were present before them.
