The most exciting fighter in the lightweight division, Gervonta Davis, is looking for his next opponent. The WBA lightweight champion returned to the ring in June this year after a long hiatus following his fight against Ryan Garcia last year. One thing that Davis would like to avoid right now is ring rust, and he is looking to have another fight this year in December. Davis’ first choice was a unification bout with Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko. But the fight failed to materialize after a prolonged period of negotiations, as the ‘The Matrix’ wanted to spend more time with the family.

Recently, Michael Benson reported that Lamont Roach, the WBA super featherweight champion, is the frontrunner for Davis’ next WBA lightweight title fight in December, with Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela coming in as a close second. “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 revealed on X.

However, there was one more fighter that was reportedly approached for a Gervonta Davis fight. It was none other than Shakur Stevenson’s former opponent, Edwin De Los Santos. In an interview with Mill City Boxing, the 24-year-old boxer’s trainer and manager Humberto “Chelo” Betancourt confirmed that Santos was contacted by Davis’ team for a fight, and they even started “preparing for Tank”.

Then, when boxing legend Zab Judah inquired why the fight didn’t take place, Chelo responded—“They chose Lamont Roach”. When Judah said that Gervonta Davis’ choice for his upcoming opponent made “perfect sense”, Chelo replied, “Hey, I ain’t knocking on him. It is a good fight. 130 going up to 135. Why would you fight somebody who is a natural 135-pounder?”

Notably, Santos is a natural 135-pounder who fought most of his fights in the lightweight division including his Shakur Stevenson title fight in December 2023. Meanwhile, 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 will have to make the transition from 130 to 135 lbs to fight Gervonta Davis who is again a natural at lightweight division. Comparatively, Roach could be an easier opponent to tackle for Davis than Santos due to his difficulty adjusting to the 135-pound weight limit.

Meanwhile, Gervonta Davis had a befitting reply to the super lightweight division’s “current champion in recess” who found his prospective opponent for his upcoming fight laughable.

Killing two birds with one stone?

The former undisputed lightweight champion and current WBC super lightweight champion in recess, Devin Haney took to X to react to Davis’ choice of opponents for his upcoming fight with a bunch of laughing emojis. However, Davis wasn’t going to let Haney get away with it, reminding him of a painful loss that eventually got turned into a ‘no-contest’.

The Baltimore native posted a side-by-side photo, where on one end was a still from his fight with Ryan Garcia last year where he knocked ‘KingRy’ down, eventually winning the fight by a brutal liver shot in the seventh round. Meanwhile, on the other end, was a picture of Garcia knocking Haney down in their fight, who eventually beat ‘The Dream’ via a majority decision win (which was later overturned to a no-contest). Davis wanted to convey that he decisively won against Garcia, while Haney struggled against the same opponent, implying his dominance over the San Francisco native.

Nevertheless, who do you think Gervonta Davis will fight next– Lamont Roach or Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela? Let us know in the comment section below.