WBA lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis will defend against Lamont Roach in a rematch on August 16th in Las Vegas. This is a fight that is intended to clear up the controversy of their previous fight on March 1st, which ended in a 12-round majority draw by the scores 114-114, 115-113 for Tank and 114-114.
Mike Coppinger reports that his “sources” say the Tank vs. Roach rematch will take place on August 16th in Las Vegas. Let’s hope he’s right.
In that fight, Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) nailed Tank (30-0-1, 28 KOs) with a jab, causing him to take a knee. Instead of referee Steve Willis ruling it a knockdown, he let Tank get up and go to his corner to have his eyes wiped clean by his trainer.
Roach: The Uncrowned King?
Tank asked for no timeout. He just casually walked to his corner, like the boss, and got attended to by his trainer. Later, Davis said he needed to have hair grease cleared from his eyes. Had the referee Willis made the correct ruling by scoring it a knockdown, Roach would have won. Obviously, Willis will NOT be the referee for the rematch, and the hair grease excuse won’t likely be permitted for Tank if he tries that strategy again as an excuse.
Interestingly, the New York Commission didn’t overturn the results of the first fight by ruling it a no contest or giving Roach the win. There were a lot of boxing fans who had hoped they would do that because of the controversy of the ninth round. They felt that the ninth round incident wasn’t a outcome-determinative factor in the fight.
Roach will be glad he’s getting a second chance at fighting Tank because the money will be good. So, even if he loses, he’ll still get the second big payday against the King of the lightweight division.
Mentally Prepared, Tank?
Davis has got to fight a lot better than he showed last time for him to win, because he got his head boxed off by Roach last time. Tank didn’t look like he had his mind into the fight. He looked distracted and not mentally engaged.
Last Updated on 05/15/2025
