Gervonta Davis Retains WBA Lightweight Title in Majority Draw vs. Lamont Roach

Gervonta Davis successfully defended his WBA lightweight title against Lamont Roach Jr. from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, but not in the way we are used to.

Roach fought Davis to a majority draw with only one judge giving Davis the fight and the other two scoring the bout a draw.

Davis is known for starting slow and this fight was no exception. His output was limited in the opening round and Roach was wise enough not to give him too much information. 

He was able to score a few early points without dipping too deep into the gas tank. 

It didn’t take too long for Davis to start upping his game, though. Tank started to turn things on in Round 3 and likely earned his first round.

However, Roach did continue to look for his opportunities to land quality punches. That included a moment where Roach tagged him while Davis appeared to be appealing to the referee. 

The sixth round has often been a point where Davis is able to take over fights. His output increased, but Roach came back with a competitive seventh round that caught the attention of fans and analysts. 

Davis took some big shots from Roach, but did his best to play them off for the crowd. 

Round 9 saw a bizarre turn of events. Davis took a knee before running to his corner, but the referee made the controversial decision not to rule it a knockdown. 

Davis came out swinging after the incident. 

But Roach was not to be deterred. He continued to apply smart pressure to Davis and landed with enough regularity to force the draw on two scorecards.

Davis has been the terminator of the lightweight division since moving up in 2019. He had knocked out eight of his nine opponents since moving up. Isaac Cruz is the only exception. Davis defeated him with a unanimous decision.

Now Roach has ruined Davis's unblemished record. He might have also set up a huge matchup for himself in a potential rematch.

This was a fight that was originally scheduled for December, but the bout was re-booked for March with no explanation.

Roach had a 25-1-1 record coming into this fight, but he was a sizable underdog to the previously unbeaten Davis.

The two had a bit of a history. They fought as amateurs with Davis taking a decision victory.

Some of Davis's disappointing performance could be chalked up to a break or retirement being on his mind. He recently talked about the burnout that he's been feeling in an appearance on First Take (h/t Wil Esco of Bad Left Hook):

“[The end] is close, for sure. I don’t know, it’s just a little draining. I just want to step back for a little bit and just focus on me, personally. I feel like I’ve been doing this for some time now and I just want to give myself a break and focus on me as a human being, me as a father, me as a son and things of that nature.”

Now the 30-year-old faces a bit of a crossroads. He will almost assuredly get an immediate rematch if he wants one. However, he'll need to reflect on whether he wants to run it back right away.

He recently talked about the burnout that he's been feeling in an appearance on First Take (h/t Wil Esco of Bad Left Hook):

“[The end] is close, for sure. I don’t know, it’s just a little draining. I just want to step back for a little bit and just focus on me, personally. I feel like I’ve been doing this for some time now and I just want to give myself a break and focus on me as a human being, me as a father, me as a son and things of that nature.”

Davis was open to fights with Lomachenko, Shakur Stevenson and (a rematch with) Ryan Garcia in his appearance on the ESPN show, but was also at peace with letting those opportunities go by.

“It’s not no specific name I would say that’s good for me. I feel like me sharing the ring with all them guys (Lomachenko, Stevenson, Garcia, etc.) would be big. Hopefully in the future probably we’ll get ‘em, if not, so be it.”

Now, he'll have to focus on getting back in the ring with Roach when he figures out the timing.