After a tumultuous year, Gervonta Davis is ready to make a comeback to the squared circle. Welcoming him is Frank Martin, who is eyeing the WBA lightweight crown for himself in the biggest fight of his career. More than the fight’s outcome, the fans are interested in the WBA champion’s return, and as such, emotions run high and a wave of excitement engulfs the fans. However, that wave is not translating into ticket sales, it seems.
Davis, 29, last stepped inside the ring against Ryan Garcia and racked up the fifth-highest gate revenue in Las Vegas history. But this time, the fight lacks promotion, with no friction or promotional strategy in place. While it remains a PBC – Amazon Prime Video PPV, it surely doesn’t have verbal abuses flocking the sky and aggressive marketing from PBC’s side. ‘Tank’ himself complained about it as he declared in a now-deleted tweet, “The promotion for this fight has been a*s..now watch ion show up to the arrivals sh*t today.”
A fan could not help but paint the blame on the Baltimore native for his inability to drive ticket sales. They wrote, “This n*gga a diva ain’t the tickets selling.” This didn’t sit well with Davis, who then sent a stern reply, as he announced, “I’ll diva ya a*s into the nearest hospital.”
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I’ll diva ya ass into the nearest hospital https://t.co/3tBWiloyd4
— Gervonta Davis (@Gervontaa) June 11, 2024
As far as concerns for ticket sales go, the 16,8000 seater MGM Grand Garden Arena has yet to sell its last few tickets. A peek at StubHub will tell you that the arena has more than a few empty seats. It’s a steep price that fans have to pay to witness Davis, at 29-0, in action closely. Despite the promise of fireworks and exciting fights on the card, the harsh reality remains the same. The venue tickets are not exactly flying off the shelves. But it’s a scenario that Davis wanted to avoid when he had specified his intent to fight somewhere else.
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Gervonta Davis wanted to change the venue for his return fight
The WBA champion vented his frustration at the choice of venue last month. The reason? For him, the local crowd wasn’t supportive enough. Davis voiced his discontent on his X handle and penned, “And n*ggas gotta book another venue..I’m not fighting in Vegas [man shrugging emoji] I don’t wanna bring no money here..don’t respect me, ion respect yall.”
Amusingly, Las Vegas, the fight capital of the world, has hosted the lightweight boxer 4 times. Davis’ electrifying showdown against ‘KingRy’ also came in Las Vegas, which shattered many financial records. But it seems the landscape is different this time.
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What do you make of Gervonta Davis’s response to a fan? Do you also believe that the event’s promotion could have been better? Let us know in the comments below.