Boxing
Controversy Colors Tank vs Roach Results: A Surprising Draw
Few would have guessed a record-setting crowd of 19,250 fans would hear the final bell after 12 rounds in the main event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday.
WBA Lightweight World Champion Gervonta Davis of Baltimore (30-0-1 28 KOs) and WBA Super Featherweight World champion Lamont Roach of Baltimore (25-1-2, 10 KOs) delivered a fight they will not soon forget.
Roach took Davis the distance for the third time in his pro career and the first time in four years in an action-packed fight, ending in a majority draw. Scores were 115-113 for Davis and 114-114 even on the remaining two cards.
Davis gasped as he heard the scores. Roach shook his head, and his expression said he believed he had won the fight.
Davis: “Though I Pulled It Out”
“I think I pulled it out for the last three rounds, ” Davis said. “I was catching some clean shots. I feel like I was breaking him down as the rounds were going on, but he kept coming, so I didn’t want to make no mistakes, so I kept it cautious.
“To be honest, I made it competitive, for real. For sure, Lamont is a great fighter. He got the skills, like I said before, he got punching power. It was a learning lesson, you know.”
Roach: “A Little Disappointed”
If it appeared Davis was a little relieved, Roach was fried. “You know, I came out here and showed it. I’m just a little disappointed in this decision. I thought I pulled it out, but that’s what, you know, two skilled fighters getting in and do, getting in and show off their craft.
“I definitely thought I won, but we can run it back,” added Roach.
Controversy Colors Tank vs Roach Results
A terrific, high level and highly entertaining fight was marred by an apparent blown knockdown call in the ninth round. But we’ll get there.
The fight looked like a typical Gervonta Davis fight in the first few rounds. Roach came into the fight, oozing confidence. He maintained a respectful attitude toward Davis, looking for the solution to the Tank Davis puzzle of Davis while avoiding Tank’s uncanny ability to launch his power shots at his convenience at any point in a fight.
Moving up from super featherweight, where he holds the WBA belt, Roach was the bigger fighter and in superb condition. In the first few rounds, Roach was in no hurry to come after Davis. The pair warily circled each other, applying mental pressure to try and draw the other into coming forward and committing. Roach slowly edged toward Davis, and the tension grew minute by minute.
Roach remained patient, trying to force Davis onto the front foot and take the lead. Activity picked up in round four. Davis began to tag Roach to the body, but Roach did not panic. He did not give Davis much to work with and didn’t overcommit.
Roach responded in the fifth to Davis’s activity. Davis began talking to Roach, which continued for several rounds. Roach landed a solid left, and the pair scrapped before a clinch. Davis bumped Roach under the chin with his shoulder. “You made him mad a little bit,” laughed trainer Barry Hunter after the round.
Asked what they were saying to each other, Davis said, “There’s a little bit of shit-talking. That’s how it is when, you know, we competitive. We grew up in a sport together and shit like that. So, it was definitely fun while I lasted for sure.”
In rounds six through eight, the action picked up. The arena crowd came to life, hoping for Davis’s familiar narrative as he dialed it up and took his opponent out.
But Roach hadn’t read this script. He took Davis’s punches better than any opponent to date, and he had plenty coming back at Davis, including a nice double left hook. When Davis held, Roach battered him with right hooks. Roach landed a fight-high 16 punches. Suddenly, it was a fight. Roach’s corner told him to keep working in the clenches.
Roach landed his best punch in the eighth round, backing Davis up with a hard counter right, snapping Davis’s head around, followed by an uppercut. There was a look of surprise on Davis’s face, and the pair continued to trade.
Knockdown Or No Knockdown?
At the beginning of the ninth round, Roach landed a quick counterpunch to the body. It didn’t look like a hard shot. Suddenly, Davis took a knee. A knockdown, yes?
Davis got up and walked over to his corner, away from referee Steve Willis. His corner wiped his face with a towel. Willis told him, “You take a knee like that, it looks like a knockdown.”
But Willis didn’t administer the count. He waved the fighters back to the action. Davis went right at Roach and let his punches fly. Roach took his best and came right back, going to the body. Shaken up by the knockdown confusion, the crowd got on its feet as the fighters traded their best shots.
Later, Davis explained that the hair product used on his braided hair for the fight had gotten into his eyes, and he felt burning. Boos rained down on Davis. “Damn! Why y’all booing, like it’s bullshit? This is real facts!” said Davis.
At the post-fight news conference, trainer Calvin Ford said the episode affected Davis’s performance the rest of the fight, explaining his thinking: “This stuff in my eye, and he’s going to keep coming, and I don’t want to get caught.”
Davis Loses Focus, But Rallies to Avoid A Loss
Into the championship rounds, Davis tried to end the fight as he had 28 times before. Davis worked to the body. Roach continued to land effective combinations and counterpunches, led by his terrific right hook.
Thanks to the relentlessness and confidence of Lamont Roach, it was as competitive and thrilling as any Tank Davis fight in his career.
Roach forced Davis to double his punch output, never letting up and landing combinations. With the punch output even in the 11th round, the final round was vital for both fighters. Hunter told Davis to turn up his defense.
The tension was high. Davis waved to the crowd, asking them to get up and cheer.
Roach took the fight to Tank, catching him with a left hook and never letting up the body attack. Did Davis need a knockdown? He looked for an opening, but Roach evaded him, and the fight went to the scorecards.
At the post-fight news conference, trainer Barry Hunter was asked whether Davis gives away too many early rounds. Instead, Hunter revealed that Davis thought he was in round eight as he was going into the 12th and final round. “I think maybe it was a lack of focus and we’ll fix that. But that’s what made this fight a draw,” said Hunter.
“For the most part, he was moving a lot in that fight tonight. To move the way he was moving, and to think it was eight rounds going into 12, being in shape wasn’t an issue,” added Hunter.
Roach said whatever happened in the ninth round, he can’t change things. “I should have won without it being counted a knockdown. But if you take a knee, it’s an automatic eight count. I’m not really frustrated about that. But if you count it a knockdown, I win a majority decision.
“I found myself getting a little upset but I shook it off. I performed well, and they uplifted me. Put yourself in my shoes. I put on a hell of a performance.”
“Tank’s a world-class competitor. He’s a pound-for-pound talent. I should be in those conversations.”
Tank vs Roach 2? Rematch Seems A Must
Davis was equally respectful of his opponent’s effort and agreed that the fight deserves a rematch. But he said it wouldn’t likely happen next or in 2025.
“Shout out to Lamont Roach, to his whole team. Hopefully we can run it back, for sure. New York, let’s do it again. Let’s have a rematch back in New York. Let’s do it again, baby,” said Davis.
Roach and his team, including Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez, say they’re on board. “Even though I didn’t win tonight. I thought I did, but that’s a win for me and my book. But we’re not satisfied with that. We need a real W,” said Roach.
“I want to run it back for you. I hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks for your support. Thanks for loving me. Thanks for hating me. I’ll be right back on this same great stage like I belong.”
“It was a good night for the sport,” said Davis several hours later at the post-fight news conference. Davis said he can’t wait to get back to the gym, and said the outcome puts any thought about retiring out of his mind. “I need to work on myself, for the most part,” said Davis.
See the video of the entire Tank vs Roach post-fight news conference.
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