Lamont Roach is a good fighter. He’s technically sound; he’s a championship-level fighter.
But as far as opponents for Gervonta “Tank” Davis in a pay-per-view event go, I’d prefer to see someone who has produced explosive performance at the highest level or at least is a polarising personality.
Davis is a bonafide pay-per-view star. Whether you agree that so many of his fights should have been on pay-per-view – and I disagreed with most of them – he’s been established on pay-per-view for a while now. What’s been lacking is the proper opposition necessary to charge those kinds of fees.
Roach is a solid fighter. But he hasn’t reach the pinnacle, and I also don’t think he’s the nature of character to compensate for that. He’s had success at super featherweight, but it’s taken him a while to do so. If he’d made numerous title defences a fight between him and Davis might make more sense, but he’s made one, against Feargal McCrory.
We’ve seen Davis in this sort of fight before – such as against Hector Luis Garcia, who since being stopped by Davis has only lost a split decision to Roach. But then that’s become the pay-per-view model – once a fighter has that status, he stays on pay-per-view regardless of his opposition.
Frank Martin, Davis’ past opponent, is also a solid fighter – and unlike Roach is established at lightweight. He’d been on course to fight Shakur Stevenson, and he’d produced some good performances that meant there was a curiosity surrounding him at the highest level. There’s no question Davis is of the highest level, which is why the careful selection of his opposition is frustrating.
It’s also relevant that Roach – who is spoken about highly by those who know him – isn’t the biggest of super featherweights, where he still appears capable of making defences of his WBA title, and that Davis is such a powerful lightweight. If Davis is the biggest star in the division, and Stevenson is his biggest rival, then I feel similarly about this fight to how I did when Stevenson was matched with Joe Cordina. It feels more like the sort of fight that would be acceptable if Davis-Stevenson was made, and then Stevenson had to pull out with an injury and be replaced; if we could be confident Davis-Stevenson would come next, it would make far more sense, but it doesn’t even seem close.
Davis has to be considered a heavy favourite. With respect to Roach, if he won, it would be the upset of the year, and a match-up capable of producing the upset of the year shouldn’t be on pay-per-view.
A lightweight fight I’m much more positive about is William Zepeda-Tevin Farmer. Farmer presents Zepeda with a different style as he continues to move up in level; Farmer’s a former world champion, and a very crafty southpaw, and by fighting him Zepeda’s strengthening his hopes of fighting Davis or Stevenson in the future.
Southpaws are largely dominant at lightweight, which makes Farmer a very suitable opponent, and one capable of showing us where Zepeda, who so far has been impressive, is at. Farmer may be past his best, but Zepeda isn’t defending a world title, and their fight’s on the undercard of that between Chris Billam-Smith and Gilberto Ramirez. I anticipate moments where Farmer’s on top, and testing Zepeda, even if I expect Zepeda to both learn from him and win.
As a side note, when Stevenson-Cordina was announced, we were also told we could expect Stevenson-Zepeda and then Stevenson-Davis in 2025. Stevenson being with Matchroom and DAZN – the broadcaster Zepeda’s fighting on, albeit under Golden Boy Promotions – means a fight between them wouldn’t come as a surprise.
But I see very little reason to believe Stevenson-Davis will happen after that. Matchroom have no say over Davis’ movements. I’m happy to go on record as writing that I don’t believe Stevenson-Davis will happen in 2025, and while I expect Stevenson-Zepeda to take place, it will be late in the year, instead of early, as we’ve also been told.
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