A chippy, trash-talk-filled tussle went down between longtime friends: the WBA Lightweight World Champion Gervonta Davis and the WBA Super Featherweight World Champion Lamont Roach. The stakes were high as a loss to Davis would have given him his first ever career loss at the hands of his friend. Et tu, Roach? But the final result? Draw!

While things started well for The Tank as he took the lead in the judges’ scorecard initially, they got a little tense as the rounds kept moving on. Struggling to keep up with the 29-year-old, Davis could not show off his customary fight-changing moves to the point that in the final rounds, The Reaper ended stronger than his friend with a 16-9 score. Indeed, a bad sign for the reigning Lightweight World Champion.

The subpar performance by Gervonta became a turn off of the record-breaking fight in the Barclays Center that saw an all-time high 19,250 attendance, especially with the ninth-round non-knockdown stunt left everyone scratching their heads. And while he may have retained his title this time around, his antics, have made some people speak up. One of them is the legendary trainer Andre Rozier who believes he has cracked the code behind his ‘nephew’s’ lackluster performance.

Speaking to YSM Sports Media, Rozier gave his honest views of the fight. “I had to watch the fight again. But I know ‘Tank’ was not focused for this one, not one bit. Lamont did everything he had to do to be a viable and live dog, which he was, and the knee threw another pound of salt into the controversy. I don’t know what the end result would be from the commission because they are making a complaint about it but I guess we’ll see what the end result would be.”

After Roach had landed two consecutive shots on the 30-year-old after a right hook, Davis looked towards the referee and unexpectedly dropped to a knee. He walked to his corner mid-fight to get his face wiped after grease from his hair trickled into his eyes, impairing his vision. Referee Steve Willis started the count – but when he reached three the action should have been ruled as a knockdown. Willis allegedly did not rule Davis’s kneeling as such, impairing the results.

Per the latest reports, Lamont and his team, through their attorney, have sent a letter to the New York State Athletic Commission to investigate the incident. But with the noises only increasing in the chaos, Rozier has a message to Davis.

“You know, I’m a ‘Tank’ fan. He’s one of the nephews, but he’s going to have to focus up and get on this game. Stop worrying about the outside world, focus on boxing. You got to do it. It’s the only way he’s going be right,” Rozier noted, later addressing Davis directly.

After the fight, the combaters talked to the media, giving their perspectives to the fight. Interestingly, both are looking forward to a re-match to shush the voices and think that they won. Hmm!

Giving the reason for the controversial knee, Davis explained, “I just got my hair done two days ago and she put grease in my shit. So, the grease, when you sweat, it was coming into my face. I think I pulled it out in the last three rounds for sure. I was catching him with some clean shots. I feel I was breaking him down as the rounds were going on, but he kept coming so I didn’t want to make mistakes, and I kept it cautious… Hopefully we can run it back in New York. If not, all the best to Lamont Roach and his whole team.”

Top Comment by DerrickO0706

By Rulè the fight wasn’t at a referee stoppage, Should of been ruled accordingly… Refs are human bad mistake… Overture...more

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Davis did find his footing (pun intended) back later and threw 6 more power punches in the duel. However, the competitive fight saw The Reaper throw 121 more punches and 15 more jabs than his friend-opponent. Interestingly, if Roach would have gotten just two more wins, he would have turned the tables in his favor and defeated Davis. According to the judges’ cards, one scored the fight a 115-113 in favor of Davis and the other two fixated at an equal 114-114. Hence, he has his reasons when he believes that he won the fight, of course, with the knee getting a proper call, which would have given him the W with a point.

A spokesman from the Commission revealed that on Monday, “During the round in question – following the commission’s request for the replay video, there was a technical issue preventing the commission from receiving it within the allotted time for review. Therefore, the referee’s in-ring decision was relied upon and the fight continued.”

“I’m a little disappointed in the decision. I thought I pulled it out. That’s what two skilled fighters do, go in there and show off their crafts. I definitely thought I won but we can run it back… The script got flipped upside down. Even though I didn’t win tonight, I thought I did, but it’s a win for me in my book, but we are not satisfied with that. We need a real W.

“It (The knee) should have been a knockdown. If that was knockdown, I win the fight. He’s saying grease got in his eye, but if he takes a knee and the ref starts counting, it should be a knockdown. It is what it is. I’m not banking on that knockdown to win. I just thought I pulled it out. I want to run it back for sure. I hope you all enjoyed yourself. Thanks for loving me and thanks for hating me. I’ll be back on the grand stage again, where I belong.”

While we wait for the final ruling and for the next time these two friends contest again, a former world champion has a few thoughts too.

George Kambosos Jr. claims Gervonta Davis has “too much power”

While Gervonta Davis may have officially avoided a loss, for many, the Roach Jr. fight will still be remembered as a blemish due to the knee incident. And former IBF, WBC, and WBO lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. knows a thing or two about losses. So, when his bitter nemesis Davis got wrapped up in the controversy, he was one of the first people to comment.

“Ouch, there goes the perfect record!!! That was a knockdown!! that ultimately made the difference!” he wrote in a tweet after the Davis vs. Roach fight. “The dwarf had a go at me for my losses to Haney and Loma, time to look at yourself Wankie Tankie, great work Roach. Respect!! Tankie the JIG is up!”

However, as it turns out, he had more to say! When asked about his thoughts on the controversial fight, he revealed that he had underestimated Roach Jr. and gave the super featherweight the props he deserved. As for the knee, Kambosos Jr. confidently declared that “It was knockdown… You can’t just, in the middle of the fight, decide to take a knee… it’s not fair.”

With NYSAC looking into the fight, Kambosos Jr. felt, “They are not going to overturn the decision. I think there’s too much power behind the scenes.”

In fact, many others also believe that the win was stolen from Roach in this contest. Terence Crawford, Joe Rogan, Paul Malignaggi, and more have also sided with Roach on the results. However, it would be interesting to see if Davis finally gets an L or his winning streak will continue.