WBA lightweight champ Gervonta Davis is gearing up to clash with WBA super featherweight kingpin Lamont Roach early next year. While plenty of fans are already betting against Roach, boxing legend Bernard Hopkins warns that Davis better not take his 29-year-old challenger lightly—because in the ring, surprises pack a punch!

The clash was initially scheduled for December 14 at Houston’s Toyota Center, but a few bumps in the road have pushed it back. Although no official date or venue has been set yet, word on the street hints that the bout might happen sometime in January. Interestingly, there were rumors about Davis and Roach co-featuring on a card with David Benavidez and David Morrell.

However, boxing journalist Dan Rafael poured cold water on those rumors, saying it’s unlikely. Meanwhile, Bernard Hopkins weighed in on the upcoming Davis vs. Roach clash during an interview with Michelle Joy Phelps of Fight Hub TV. Hopkins—who’s with Golden Boy Promotions and was involved in last year’s Davis vs. Ryan Garcia showdown—quickly shared his two cents on the bout.

“Tank Davis to me, he’s [going to] give anybody problems,” Hopkins said. “The burden is on Roach or anybody else. In this case, it is Roach. The burden is on him.” Roach will be climbing up a weight class to square off against Davis in a bid to secure a title in the lightweight division. The WBA even made a special exemption to allow Roach to fight Davis for the title.

Roach was initially summoned by the sanctioning body to face off against interim titlist Albert Batyrgaziev earlier this summer. Regardless, Hopkins warned Davis, “Anything can happen in this world of boxing,” noting, “Both guys need to come in the way they need to come in.” Not just that, Hopkins feels Davis should not overlook Roach either.

“Tank cannot underestimate Roach. Roach is a real good, good fighter, boxer, and puncher. And…he had some confidence from the amateur,” Hopkins told Michelle Joy Phelps. In the meantime, Lamont Roach has shared how his bout against Davis came to be.

Lamont Roach was in the sweepstakes for Gervonta Davis long ago

When news of the fight first broke, fans were left scratching their heads, wondering how this matchup even made sense. Roach, however, was quick to clap back. In an interview with BagFuel, he called casual fans “civilians” and shrugged off their confusion, saying they simply don’t know the sport well enough for it to make sense to them.

Roach claimed that he was first approached by PBC right after Davis’s fight with Rolando Romero. “I’ve been in the Tank sweepstakes two years ago,” Roach explained. “I got a call from them two years ago,” after the promotion searched for a fighter in Washington, DC. Although Roach agreed back then, the fight fell through as he wasn’t yet a champion, and the PBC ultimately went with Hector Luis Garcia.

That being said, Gervonta Davis seems to have backing from Bernard Hopkins, but ‘B-Hop’ has cautioned Davis about Roach’s abilities. Only time will tell whether Roach will present any sort of challenge for the Baltimore native.

Gervonta Davis has drawn the ire of a good amount of boxing fans in 2024. Despite saddling up for a mega fight against Ryan Garcia in 2023, “Tank” took a step back in his age 30 year in the eyes of many. His decision to fight Frank Martin over the summer wasn’t met with much excitement, although Davis delivered with a scintillating KO. Boxing fans excused it, though, expecting Davis to follow it up with another big fight for his next event.

Instead, Davis announced that he would be fighting Lamont Roach Jr. in December. Roach is a fine fighter, but not a big name by any means. Boxing purists were clamoring for a Davis bout against Vasiliy Lomachenko, which seemed highly possible, but the Ukrainian opted against it; at least for now. While Loma was the one who didn’t try hard to make it happen this time, there are some who believe Davis waited until Lomachenko got old before even giving him a chance.

Gervonta Davis claimed to have ducked Vasiliy Lomachenko

An anonymous boxing official spoke to BoxingScene recently and called out Davis for ducking Lomachenko until the very last minute.

If Loma retires, there’s a part of me that’ll be happy he didn’t fight Tank. It was kind of a b*tch move by Tank to refuse to fight Loma for so long and then cherry pick him at 36, almost 37. It’s like [Lomachenko] saying, ‘No, you had your chance.’

Lomachenko is still elite, evidenced by his TKO title win over George Kambosos Jr. in May, but he doesn’t have the quickness or power that made him among the most dangerous boxers earlier in his career.

He could likely still grind out a win over Tank, but it’s a risk he’s likely unwilling to take as he nears 37 years old.

Gervonta Davis might not go through the ropes a second time this year. The WBA lightweight champion’s December fight with Lamont Roach might get pushed to next year because of reasons not in his control. What is exactly happening behind the scenes? Two boxing insiders, Rick Glaser and Dan Rafael, have floated their theories in contrast to each other, with some choice words also thrown in the mix.

Davis, 29, had been speculated to fight Roach, 29, on December 14 at Houston’s Toyota Center. There were also rumors about David Benavidez being part of the event as a supporting act. But it seems that fans might have to wait longer for Tank to make his return once again this year. Rafael, a Nat Fleischer Award winner, turned to his X handle and explained the situation as “50-50” and that the fight could get pushed to early next year. In addition, he cited venue issues for the debacle. He wrote, “Venue issue may be reason I’m told. Might happen as planned but unclear.”

However, Glaser, a long-time critic of Al Haymon and PBC had a different reason for the postponement of the Davis fight. He believed Davis, at 30-0, demanded more than what the PBC was paying him. Glaser had previously reported that the PBC’s current financial woes and the WBA champion’s demands might act as an added burden on the promotion’s upcoming event. Glaser pointed out, “Tank is demanding a lot more than #PBC is willing to pay Tank.”

That’s not all. He also shared Rafael’s post and threw a jibe at him. He rejected Dan Rafael’s speculations of venue issues and again asserted the PBC’s financial struggles. Glaser declared, “That’s Bobaluba from the Fatman Dan Rafael, #TankDavis priced himself out like I Tweeted earlier today, there’s no venue issue, that’s all pure #PBC spin on an ugly situation!!! #Boxing.”

Rick Glaser has been upfront about the PBC’s concerns and the heavy toll on their bank account. He had theorized that the promotion had an existing debt of $900 million. But what was causing it?

Gervonta Davis and PBC’s sinking ship

Glaser had simplified the situation as the PBC having a long stable of aged superstars such as the Charlo twins and Errol Spence Jr. He argued that the promotion had no young star on the horizon. Besides, the number of PPVs staged by the PBC has reduced significantly. The rise of HE Turki Alalshikh is adding to the PBC’s misery, which has the effect of lowering the PPV prices.

Therefore, with Davis demanding more from the PBC to headline the next PPV event, it might only hit hard. What’s more? The Baltimore native’s last fight against Frank Martin also didn’t produce significant numbers. As per Rafael, the number was somewhere around 350,000, way off from Davis’ last fight against Ryan Garcia. The PBC might not prefer paying extra when the numbers are not there.

WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis just cleared the air about the confusion around his next title defense against WBA super featherweight champion Lamont Roach. The duo was slated to lock horns on December 14th at the Toyota Center, Houston, but a recent report from Boxing Scene suggested that it could be pushed. To when?

According to the boxing media house, people associated with Davis had confirmed to them that the bout was being reworked and could be turned into a doubleheader. They reported that Davis-Roach was now being eyed for a January 25th date in the co-main event of the potential David Benavidez vs. David Morrell fight, who are vying for a bout on the same date in Las Vegas.

Benavidez and Davis appeared on the Amazon Prime pay-per-view card together back in June earlier this year when Davis defended his title against Frank Martin via an 8th-round knockout and Benavidez emerged victorious over Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Regardless, after talkSport editor Michael Benson shared this news on X today, Davis had just one word for it—“Cap.”

This means that the reports of the move may not be completely true. ‘Tank’ originally sought a unification bout against IBF lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko or WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson. However, Lomachenko pulled out and is now contemplating retirement while the talks for the Stevenson fight had come to a halt. Nonetheless, the reason behind the change in Davis’ fight was reportedly a series of situations that made it “wobbly”.

Despite Davis’ claims against the doubleheader, there were some big names tossed around for the main card.

Who are on the potential Gervonta Davis & David Benavidez undercard? 

Boxing Scene reported that because Davis was such a massive favorite in this bout, Premier Boxing Champions was trying to create more interest in the card by adding a fight between newly elevated WBC featherweight champion Brandon Figueroa and Stephen Fulton, with Fulton winning their first fight in 2021.

Even Jermall Charlo’s name was mentioned to be potentially added to the card, though no names were mentioned for his opponent. The initial December 14th date seemed too close to the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury rematch to draw significant PPV interest, making the new January 25th date seem more practical. However, with Davis’ latest tweet, it now appears they may end up competing with the heavyweight bout for viewership.

That said, while Gervonta Davis has suggested his fight date remains set, the full story behind the scenes is still unclear. Or it could be business as usual, with Davis facing Lamont Roach without a hitch on December 14. What do you think?

A Baltimore versus Brooklyn seems to have erupted online. ‘The Chosen One’ seemingly fired the first salvo. It didn’t take much time before the ‘Tank’ started dropping heavy shells from his base. The dynamics of the battle appear to be shifting. Gervonta Davis, it appears, is now taking the battle to the foe’s home ground.

An innocuous celebration at Edgar Berlanga‘s end seemingly gave ‘Tank’ Davis another opportunity to question the super middleweight’s credentials in the boxing pedigree. Davis returned from a year-long break and defended his lightweight championship against Frank Martin on June 15. Three months later, Berlanga’s high-profile attempt at a world title squandered in front of Canelo Alvarez. As far as the Baltimorean goes, talks about his next fight have been grabbing headlines for some time. One particular bit of reporting involved Jose ‘El Rayo’ Valenzuela. As rumors of the fight not happening gained traction, Berlanga made his opening move against ‘Tank’.

Gervonta Davis: What’s the point?

‘The Chosen One’ shared a nearly half-minute-long clip through his Twitter handle. It features him standing atop a vehicle along with a few other associates. With loud music playing in the background, Berlanga captured the whole sequence on his mobile, showcasing a large group of supporters on motorcycles and scooters riding alongside.

In Chaste Spanish, Berlanga wrote, “Puerto Rico te amo,” which roughly translates to, “Puerto Rico, I love you.” Though a Brooklyn-born, Berlanga’s love for the land, from where his parents came, is fairly well known. If fans remember, the 27-year-old had hyped the Canelo fight as Mexico versus Puerto Rico rivalry.

But to Gervonta Davis, it was nothing short of a drama. He questioned the revelry. After all, Berlanga lost the fight to Canelo Alvarez, where reportedly, he literally gave away each round. The lightweight champion asked, “Ni**a celebrating failure… lol, yo, congrats on getting ya ass beat.”

It seems the online spat ensued as Edgar Berlanga called out Gervonta Davis for avoiding ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela. He called the Baltimorean a ‘Chihuahua.’ Berlanga tweeted that probably Davis’s unwillingness for a face-off stems from the defeat ‘El Rayo’ inflicted on Isaac Cruz. The tough ‘Pitbull’ remains one of the only two men who took ‘Tank’ the whole distance. ‘Tank’ wasn’t going to let it slide.

The Clash Beyond the Canvas

He shot back, saying, “I was champ at 21-22..you 23 [right now], and from the outside looking in, you’re probably not going to be champ [any] time soon.” It appears the deleted tweet featured a clip of Edgar Berlanga dropping on the canvas after receiving a right hook on the face. So Davis further taunted, “Kid, so busy pointing fingers, no realizing he haven’t done sh*t yet.”

So it was over to ‘The Chosen One’ to lift the veil on past transgressions. And the instance he took to make his case—last year’s Ryan Garcia fight. Highlighting how he wants to fight the best in boxing (read: the Canelo challenge), he wondered whether it’s the same with Gervonta Davis too. Otherwise, why is he so fastidious about his opponents? When he finds a particular fighter posing a credible threat, he would burden with the ‘weight clause’.

Rumors of Gervonta Davis possibly entering the ring by December against Lamont Roach Jr. have emerged. Nevertheless, fans could expect the online duel with Berlanga to continue. The Brooklynite might get back to launch his riposte anytime soon.

Gervonta Davis is the man to beat in the lightweight division. The WBA champion has proven to be one of the most entertaining fighters in the 135 lbs weight class, knocking out twenty-eight of his thirty opponents. The knockout artist is now on the hunt for a new opponent after stopping Frank Martin brutally in the eighth round of his last fight. However, boxing fans might be disappointed because the frontrunner in his list of opponents might not be a worthy challenger. Additionally, Davis is also not looking to unify the lightweight belts with his upcoming fight.

Boxing reporter Michael Benson took to X to inform that Davis might be fighting in November or December of this year. The shortlisted opponents are Lamont Roach and Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela. “Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach is reportedly now the frontrunner for Tank’s next fight in November/December, with Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela also a possibility,” Benson wrote on X.

The 29-year-old Maryland native, Roach, is the current WBA super-featherweight champion and will be making his debut in the lightweight division if the fight with Davis is finalized. Roach has fought the majority of his bouts in the super-featherweight division, while Davis is a natural 135-pounder. Meanwhile, Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela is a bright prospect in the super lightweight division, who pulled off an upset win against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz to win the WBA title. It just might be that Valenzuela has to fight Davis at 135 or a catchweight.

Meanwhile, witnessing his choice of opponents, former undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney, considered Davis’ pick of potential opponents laughable. On X, Haney conveyed his thoughts by reacting with a bunch of laughing emojis to Benson’s fight announcement. However, Gervonta Davis wasn’t willing to let the insult slide, as he responded to Haney’s post by posting a side-by-side photo that aimed to kill two birds with one stone.

On the left-hand side, he posted a still from his fight with Ryan Garcia last year where he knocked him down, eventually getting the knockout win over him by a brutal body shot in the seventh round. On the right side, it was a picture of Garcia knocking Haney down in their fight, who eventually got the better of ‘The Dream’ by securing a majority decision win (which was later overturned to a no-contest). Davis seemed to be reminding Haney that he decisively defeated Garcia, while Haney struggled in their encounter, implying his dominance over ‘The Dream.’

Interestingly, the opponents currently in talks for Davis’ next fight weren’t part of his original plans. His first priority was a unification bout against another world title holder in his division.

A well-timed break perhaps?

Reportedly, Gervonta Davis was in talks with Ukrainian boxer Vasyl Lomachenko‘s camp earlier this year for a fight. But, the negotiations broke down after the IBF lightweight title holder decided to take some time off from boxing to spend some time with his family.

“Loma is not in the mood right now. He doesn’t have the motivation at the moment. He’s taking off. He wants to spend more time with the family. He doesn’t want to do anything till the end of the year,” a statement from the Olympic gold medalist boxer’s manager Egis Klimas read.

Klimas further stated that if Lomachenko didn’t have the motivation to fight, no amount of money would be able to lure him into a bout. “He doesn’t take anything just because of money. You can offer him millions, tens of millions of dollars. If he doesn’t have motivation, he’s not ready to prepare for the fight,” he further stated.

Lomachenko, 36, would have gotten the biggest paycheck of his career by fighting Davis, but some fight fans are insinuating that taking a hiatus was a pre-planned move from the ‘Matrix’ to duck Davis and protect his boxing legacy from an inevitable loss.

After months of speculation and search, Gervonta Davis has finally found an opponent. For the past few months, there was only one question in every fan’s mind. Who is Davis going to fight next? The selection by Tank surprised everyone as the WBA super featherweight champion Lamont Roach Jr is being touted as his next opponent as per the latest announcement.

After Davis’ successful title defense against Frank Martin in June, Davis’ camp discussed many names, though they were unsuccessful in securing a fight with any of them. As the year progressed, and with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) struggling to find a suitable match for Davis, the situation began to look bleak for the fighter, who was eager to return to the ring before year’s end. However, the ultimate decision to go with the Maryland native, Roach, has created waves across the boxing community. Rick Glaser, a boxing promoter and insider, revealed the news, sending shockwaves through the sport.

Lamont Roach to move up

Glaser took to ‘X’ and stated that Lamont Roach Jr for his Tank Davis fight would be going up a division to lightweight. However, the move to up 135 would be for one fight only. “Breaking, #TankDavis next opponent is going to be WBA 130 pound Champion #LamontRoach moving upto 135 pounds for this fight only. It’ll be in December, they’re both from Maryland, so it could well be in the DMV region!!! Details being finalized,” revealed Glaser.

The IBHOF elector also stated that the fight will be in December in line with the previous reports. This will be Gervonta Davis’ second fight this year since his return to the ring after a year of absence from the ring. The finer details of the fight are still being discussed, but there is a huge possibility that the fight will take place in the Washington area as both boxers hail from Maryland. The PBC, for their part, is yet to make an official announcement on this.

It was an entirely shocking choice as Roach was not even in the discussion of possible prospects for Davis. Fans were expecting a big matchup, as names like Shakur Stevenson and Vasyl Lomachenko were being discussed. The obvious weight difference was one of the reasons no one considered Roach as a serious contender for Davis.

With no lack of talent in the lightweight division, finalizing a super featherweight as the next opponent is sure to make boxing fans scratch their heads. And as expected, the reaction by fans was not kind to the news broken by Rick Glaser.

Gervonta Davis dodging serious opponents?

Fans were not kind to the news as they were expecting something big from ‘Tank’. With his current form, there were so many opportunities for a potential dream fight that could have sold stadiums out. The news visibly frustrated one fan as he wrote, “So Haney just came out and said he could have been ready to fight in October…Tank couldn’t send him an offer? He couldn’t send Teo an offer!? Smh ‍♂️‍♂️.” The fact that Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney were also looking for their next opponent and yet a deal could not be reached just made the announcement all the more disappointing for the fan.

Both Haney and Lopez were in talks for a fight in Riyadh in October, but the latter was not ready at the time. So, December would have been perfect for both of these boxers to get back in the ring and a fight against Davis would have been a very big pay. Similarly, another fan was surprised by the news as he wrote, “This better not be true,” as soon as the news broke out. 

Another frustrated fan directly questioned the quality of the match and threw shade at the Premier Boxing Champions. “This is not breaking at all, another trash fight from pbc, this is going to flop so bad at a $90 ppv, will be streamed,” wrote the fan, slamming PBC over the choice of opponent for Gervonta Davis. The fan was clear that this fight did not deserve a PPV rate of $90 and Gervonta Davis could have chosen a far better opponent.

In a rare sight, a fan defended Davis as he couldn’t understand the reason behind everyone’s anger. “If this true can you really get mad at tank? Hes staying at 135 and everyone is ducking him in that weight class,” the fan wrote, suggesting that Roach might have been the best available option for Davis.

While this matchup may not be the fight fans had been hoping for, Roach is a highly skilled boxer who could potentially give Davis a run for his money. Whether or not this fight lives up to expectations remains to be seen.

The lightweight division is brimming with up-and-coming talent as well as veterans. You have exciting fighters like Gervonta Davis. You have skilled technicians in Shakur Stevenson, a seasoned Olympian with an awkward style in Vasyl Lomachenko, and a hot prospect in Abdullah Mason. So, the question naturally arises in the fans’ heads. Who are the top 10 fighters in the division? Coach Kenny Ellis endeavored to draw a list, and it seems it didn’t sit well with the fans.

Ellis, 54, who has helped polish Davis along with coach Calvin Ford, into a knockout artist, turned to his social media and dropped the list. The list is full of surprises, to say the least. Well, you could anticipate one slot, ‘Tank’ occupying the top rank.

No surprise: Kenny Ellis puts Gervonta Davis #1

In the list, as soon as you go down the first spot, you start raising your eyebrows. Mason finds himself in the second position, ahead of the third-ranked Stevenson, who himself is placed higher than Lomachenko. Frank Martin, who dropped the last fight with Davis, at 30-0, is in fifth. Then the 2020 Olympic medalist, Andy Cruz, follows, and then comes Floyd Schofield at 7.

Keyshawn Davis, William Zepeda, and Curmel Moton round up the other three ranks. It seems Ellis has mixed up potential and youth with actual achievements in the ring. It eventually attracted the ire of fans, who didn’t shy away from blasting the list in the comments section.

Fans are up in arms against the rankings

A fan pointed out that Mason, at 15-0, right at number 2, and even higher than the interim WBC champion Zepeda, didn’t make sense. They wrote, “Mason that high and Zepeda that low is crazy.” Mason has yet to hold a world title while Zepeda has been the No. 1 contender in the lightweight division on all four sanctioning bodies list.

Pointing out the bias for Mason, a user believed he wanted to witness how the 20-year-old boxer would fare against the likes of more skilled veterans of the division in Stevenson and Lomachenko. They demanded, “If that’s the case, I wanna see Abdullah vs Loma or Shakur.” At 15-0, Mason has not been exposed to the competition the way Shakur or Loma have. Thus, the position does warrant some question.

Someone also questioned the credibility of Stevenson at #3. They announced, “I think Shakur is great but hasn’t proven himself to be better than Loma or Frank yet.” They contested the resume of the WBC champion, which is thinner when compared to Lomachenko. In addition, they also put Martin in the proven fighter’s category.

A comment slammed Davis for his choice of opponents and proposed that the Baltimore native always tended to pick someone smaller and with disadvantages. “Gervonta who has fought no one of his size and or without advantages is your number 1??? LMAO,” wrote the fan rhetorically.

Another fan argued the position of Schofield, who is only 21 years old and has a record of 17-0 but didn’t have a splendid amateur career. They also criticized Mason for being placed second. They declared, “This us stupid. Schofield better than Zepeda? I can’t take that seriously. And Mason is great but hasn’t proven close to enough to be above some of those other guys yet.”

Lastly, another user referenced Timothy Bradley‘s four-year-old statement when he took a jibe at Davis for fighting no-so-popular names. They commented, “A Joke Naming A Guy Who fights 8 rounders against cab drivers over a 3 divison champion makes ur whole list A Straight up joke !!!” They claimed that a three-division champion like Shakur Stevenson deserved to be placed higher than Tank.