Davis: Lamont Roach Jr Sends Tremors Through Boxing World by Dramatically Withdrawing from Highly Anticipated Gervonta Davis Rematch ?
What seems like a foregone conclusion now appears to be closer to being a reality than just a rumor. WBA super featherweight champion Lamont Roach Jr. is heading towards moving on from the Gervonta Davis rematch as the latter deals with his upcoming day in court.
The 29-year-old Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) from Washington, D.C, was last seen in March when he gave Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) his toughest fight to date, which resulted in a highly debated majority draw. That night, Davis took a knee voluntarily after being hit with a punch, which should have been called a knockdown, but instead, referee Steve Willis allowed Davis to go to his corner and have his face wiped. The NYSAC (New York State Athletic Commission) would review the footage weeks later and did not change the outcome of the fight.
What happened in the fight and the NYSAC’s actions after fueled the anticipation for the rematch. There were rumors that the fight would happen as early as June, but after talks stalled a bit, the date of August 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV, was put out there by multiple outlets.
Although the August date appeared to be solid, there hadn’t been an official press conference, nor had tickets gone on sale, leading fans to believe that there was an issue. Roach would later go to social media to say that Davis hadn’t signed his part of the contract, so the fight wasn’t a done deal. In July, Davis was arrested as he had an active warrant for a domestic violence incident that occurred on Father’s Day in June. On the day Davis was arrested, the Ring’s Keith Idec posted on X that he was told “Tank hadn’t been training for 3 weeks before he was arrested” in July.
Now that we are in August, those dates seem not to be realistic as well. FightsATW was told that as of right now, “it doesn’t look like the rematch is happening” and that Roach “can’t keep waiting” for Davis.
The target is for Roach to fight again before the end of the year, but whether that is at 130 pounds, where he is the champion, or 135, where the bigger names are, is the question that he and his team have to answer within the next couple of weeks as we head into the fall. Of course, this all depends on whether Roach and his team can find a suitable opponent who would be ready for a fight within the next couple of months.
Recently, Gary Russell Jr. popped up on Cigar Talk to throw his name in the hat as a potential opponent, but Roach quickly responded by saying the only Russell he would consider is WBA junior welterweight champion Gary Antuanne Russell. Regardless of which Russell it is, a fight between Roach and a Russell would be a huge event in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area.
If Davis’ career is truly nearing its end, as he has stated in multiple interviews, he will leave a legacy that leaves much to be desired. He is without a doubt one of the most exciting fighters to watch in boxing, but his actions outside of the ring have caused him to fight less, which also meant taking fights with either opponents that weren’t on his level, were coming up from a different weight class, or had to squeeze down to a contracted weight.
The Vasily Lomachenko fight never materialized, facing Keyshawn Davis or Shakur Stevenson isn’t likely to happen, and now the rematch with Roach, arguably the hardest fight he has been in, isn’t happening anytime soon. Sure, the Jake Paul exhibition is still out there and would make a ton of money, but that event doesn’t add to his legacy. Maybe Davis isn’t worried about legacy, which is totally fine, but you can’t be upset when you’re not considered for a P4P list. You can’t have it both ways.
Let’s see if Davis can get past his latest legal issues, and the rematch with Roach can happen in the early part of 2026. If it can’t, it’ll be a shame because we will never know if Davis just had an off night or if Roach really does have Davis’ number.
