Jake vs Tank Card On The Ropes Due To Davis Lawsuit

The planned Jake vs Tank exhibition fight between social media star and aspiring boxer Jake Paul and WBA World Lightweight champion Gervonta Davis appears to be on the ropes and in danger of cancellation two weeks ahead of its scheduled date on November 14 in Miami.

Davis ex-girlfriend Courtney Rossel filed a civil lawsuit Thursday in Miami-Dade County (Florida) Court against Davis. The suit accuses Davis of battery, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Davis Lawsuit Details

According to the filing, Rossel claims she was working at a Miami strip club past midnight on Monday, October 27 when Davis entered the club and attacked her. Rossel describes Davis choking, grabbing, and pushing her, then hitting her in the back of the head. Rossel also claimed Davis had a history of being violent toward her, threatening to kill her on at least four previous occasions before the strip club altercation.

On Saturday, Most Valuable Promotions issued a single statement, as follows.

The statement issued Saturday by Most Valuable Promotions on the Jake vs Tank fight. Photo: MVP

“Most Valuable Promotions immediately initiated an investigation upon learning of the civil lawsuit filed against Gervonta Davis in Miami-Dade County on October 30, 2025.

“At this time, we are gathering information and reviewing the details to ensure any decision we make is thoroughly vetted. We unequivocally condemn any form of violence and are committed to handling this matter with diligence and respect for all involved.

“We will make a determination on next steps once we have completed our review and consulted with the appropriate parties. Until then, we will not be commenting further.”

Jake Paul Looking For Replacement?

So now what?

MVP is reportedly scrambling for a replacement opponent. It isn’t confirming this report, but there was backdoor confirmation from Golden Boy Boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya.

On social media, De La Hoya shut down any possibility of Ryan Garcia stepping in for Tank Davis, citing contractual agreements with the broadcast network DAZN preventing Garcia from appearing on the Netflix card.

Other names being floated unofficially and without any basis in fact include Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Terence Crawford, and Edgar Berlanga. A far more likely opponent is the Paul family nemesis and influencer boxer KSI.

Davis has been arrested and pled guilty to domestic violence charges more than once against different women. Davis was arrested as recently as August in Miami. The alleged victim, reportedly the mother of Davis’s children, claimed Davis struck her during a fight in June on Father’s Day. Davis made bail and the charges were dropped.

Gervonta Davis served 44 days in jail in 2023 after violating his 90-day house arrest sentence by moving without permission related to a guilty plea in a 2020 hit-and-run case that injured four people. Davis remains on probation through 2026 for this case.

The civil case describes Davis as someone who “has a propensity and pattern of violence upon women.” Davis was caught on social media roughing up a woman at a charity basketball game in Miami in 2020, and the video quickly spread. He was arrested in both 2019 and 2018 for a bar fight and for allegedly assaulting a police officer.

Jake vs Tank Cursed From The Start

The Jake vs Tank exhibition fight seems cursed from the moment it was announced. Initially scheduled to take place in Atlanta, the Georgia State Athletic and Entertainment Commission refused to sanction the fight. The friendlier Florida commission gave the fight its approval.

At the New York and Miami news conferences to promote the fight, Davis showed up late (not unusual for him) and had little energy and less to say. Jake Paul did his best to hype things up but he couldn’t carry the event alone.

Ticket sales have reportedly been lukewarm at best. And how much are you hearing from your favorite boxing YouTubers or your friends about this fight?

What isn’t being pointed out is this: The lawsuit against Davis is a civil lawsuit, not a criminal case. Davis wasn’t arrested by law enforcement, booked, or charged with crimes. Civil lawsuits don’t get scheduled within weeks. Nothing is physically preventing Davis from making a ringwalk on November 14.

It’s certainly a distraction. But Davis has been fighting with distractions outside the ring for a decade. What took the wind out of his sails was the draw with Lamont Roach Jr., which should have been a victory for Roach Jr. and is acknowledged as one even if it says otherwise in BoxRec.

Davis has been checked out, and now with the lawsuit looming, MVP appears to have reached a breaking point with Davis.

MVP Owes Respect To Women Pros

MVP could deliver a major statement toward its champions like Alycia Baumgardner, Amanda Serrano, and Ellie Scotney by elevating their fights to the main and co-main event, and ditching Jake vs Tank. Photo: Most Valuable Promotions

It’s also not a good look for MVP to continue doing business with Davis, given his past behavior of violence toward women, when MVP positions itself as boxing’s strongest supporter of women’s professional boxing. MVP has signed many of the world’s top female champions. It staged the most-watched women’s sporting event of all time in the first Taylor vs Serrano fight. It staged the first ever all women’s fight card at Madison Square Garden in July in front of a raucous sellout crowd, a huge success.

MVP has scheduled three outstanding women’s championship fights on the Jake vs Tank undercard.

In the co-main event, MVP’s undisputed super featherweight world champion Alycia “The Bomb” Baumgardner (16-1, 7 KOs) is scheduled to make unified WBA, WBO, and IBF world title defense at 130 pounds against Canada’s #2 IBF, #3 WBO and WBA contender Leila Beaudoin (13-1, 2 KOs). The women will fight three minute rounds.

In a historic preliminary card headliner, MVP’s unified super bantamweight world champion Ellie Scotney of England (11-0) will become the youngest UK boxer ever to fight for an undisputed world title (male or female) in a 10-round women’s championship bout against WBA World Super Bantamweight champion Mayelli Flores of Mexico (13-1-1, 4 KOs).

In her seventh pro fight, Scotney dethroned former champion Cherneka Johnson by decision to become the new IBF World Super Bantamweight champion.

Also part of the undercard, MVP’s Costa Rican star Yokasta Valle (33-3, 10 KOs) will defend her WBC World Strawweight title against Yadira “La Reina” Bustillos of Las Vegas (11-1, 2 KOs) in a 10-round women’s championship bout.

It’s awfully difficult for MVP to justify giving Davis a platform given his record when it has providing women’s boxing with unprecedented visibility, a huge platform and record purses. It has treated the women signed to MVP with respect. It would be a significant gesture to drop Davis from the card. If a replacement can’t be found, it should elevate the Baumgardner vs Beaudoin fight to the main event and move the Scotney vs Flores fight to the main card.

Davis admitted from the jump he was only in the fight for the money, and he dropped huge hints about retiring. Let Davis retire now. This fight was never more than money grab that a legitimate world champion made possible.

Tank Davis just wanted a big payout before he retires. Skip the trip to the bank and let him retire. Given the year he’s just gone through with more legal problems, and a controversial draw against Lamont Roach Jr. in a fight most people believe Davis lost, we predict he won’t return to the ring.