The drama from Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach Jr continues to unfold.
‘Tank’ Davis retained his WBA Lightweight World Title after a majority draw with challenger Roach, who upset the betting odds by even making it the distance.
Roach exchanged with the hard hitter from Baltimore, even wobbling him, and many big names in the sport believe he did enough to win. That should have been the case had referee Steve Willis called a knockdown in the ninth round when Davis took a knee. He didn’t, however, despite starting a count on the night.
The WBA added to the drama by publishing an article on its website that stated, “from our perspective, Willis’ decision was not unreasonable or unjustifiable.” The piece also said that ‘skeptics’ were wrong to say Davis benefited from the referee’s actions and that “no knockdown should have been recorded.”
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The sanctioning body’s president, Gilberto Mendoza, has since had the article removed from the website, pointing out that it was the opinion of a ‘collaborator’ who has no committee influence.
Following that, he send a direct message to Roach via X, formerly Twitter.
“Champ, as president of the WBA I must apologise on the opinion of a collaborator of the website. We believed in you since day one, we knew you would had a marvellous performance and feel proud of you as champion.”
Mendoza was also keen to reach out to Lamont’s father, who serves as his manager and trainer.
“ Champ, please extend this message to your dad: I apologise for the misleading opinion of a collaborator [on the] WBA website. We believed in you since day one, we knew it was going to be a great fight and feel proud of your marvelous performance.”
Finally, Mendoza provided an update on the push for an immediate rematch, something ‘Tank’ has said he is pushing for anyway.
“I have asked the WBA committee to follow up [Lamont Roach Jr’s] direct rematch case closely. However, we believe the parties as expressed in the post fight interview will amicably agree to run it again.”
More news is expected soon on the matter, with the New York State Athletic Commission now also involved in proceedings after failing to utilise an instant replay function on the night, something a spokesperson says was due to techincal issues.
