I scored the Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach fight eight rounds to four for the latter—and I wasn’t alone in believing the challenger should have been awarded the victory.
If the right decision had been rendered by the judges, Roach would be a two-division world champion, and Davis would have his first pro loss.
That didn’t happen. Instead, the fight was ruled a majority draw, and Davis remained the WBA lightweight champion. To make matters worse, referee Steve Willis failed to rule a knockdown in the ninth round when Davis clearly took a knee after absorbing a punch.
After the fight, several current and former world champions took to social media to voice their displeasure with Willis’ failure to take a point and the judges’ decision.
Current WBA super welterweight champion Terence Crawford said he felt Roach won the fight and thought the ninth-round situation should have been ruled a knockdown. Crawford also pointed to Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s situation in 2001.
Mayweather was fighting Carlos Hernandez and was ruled down because his glove touched the mat.
Former world champion Sergio Mora declared, “Roach WON this fight!!”
Undisputed multiple-division champion Claressa Shields didn’t hold back. She even called out the referee’s integrity.
WBO interim Super Lightweight champion Arnold Barboza Jr. wondered aloud why Davis wasn’t penalized.
Ryan Garcia exclaimed: “Lamont won that.”
Former welterweight champion Andre Berto says he knows the internet is going to have a field day with the non-knockdown—and he is correct.
Former world champion Caleb Truax says he doesn’t use the word “robbery” loosely, but this decision qualifies.
Finally, Roach advocated for himself, saying he believed he won the fight—with or without it.
What some don’t realize is that if Willis had called the knee a knockdown in the ninth round, Roach would have won the fight—even with the questionable scorecards. A rematch should be coming. Both fighters said they wanted it, but we will see what happens.
If Davis elects to fight someone else instead of Roach in his next bout, there will be legitimate doubts about his success. While Roach boxed beautifully behind the Philly Shell, countered with accuracy, and displayed excellent toughness, Davis didn’t look great.
He usually starts slowly, but he struggled to find his rhythm. Much of that should be attributed to Roach’s excellence in the ring, but it’s tough not to point out Davis’ less-than-stellar performance.
At this point, if Davis fought Shakur Stevenson to unify the WBA and WBC lightweight titles, I’d favor Stevenson to win by decision. I’d also consider WBO lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis more of a threat now than I did before.
As for Roach, it’s time the boxing world—including myself—put some respect on his name. He boxed beautifully and showed a bit more pop than expected. In my eyes, he won the fight 116-112. Unfortunately for Roach, my scorecard doesn’t count.
Still, Roach won over the crowd in Brooklyn, and he will undoubtedly get a solid opportunity in his next fight. He proved himself to be one of the best fighters in his weight class.
A fight with Stevenson or Davis is possible, but I’d also love to see what would happen if Roach moved back down to 130 and Naoya Inoue came up from 122 pounds to challenge him. In the coming months, we will see just how much Roach’s performance has boosted his stock.
