Tank Davis: Lamont Roach Jnr’s fans will make it worse for him

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This isn’t normally hostile territory for Gervonta “Tank” Davis, not given the time he’s spent here, beginning with his amateur days and continuing on into his professional career.

Davis, 30-0 (28 KOs), turned pro in the D.C. Armory, after all, and has fought in the D.C. area six times overall, including selling out the Capital One Arena for his January 2023 victory over Hector Garcia.

But there is nevertheless a rivalry between D.C. and Baltimore, which is located about an hour up Interstate 95. Throw in the fact that Davis is defending his WBA lightweight title against D.C.’s own Lamont Roach Jnr, 25-1-1 (10 KOs), on March 1, and there is more fuel on the fire. 

So when the second press conference ahead of that match brought the two fighters to Burr Gymnasium at Howard University in D.C. on Thursday, Davis heard from Roach’s vocal supporters. And Davis made sure they heard back from him.

The press conference host had asked the two fighters what it means to represent their respective cities. Roach responded that his fans would come out in force to Barclays Center in New York City in less than three months.

“Just like there’s a lot of people here for me today, there’s going to be way more in Brooklyn,” Roach said.

“I don’t give a fuck,” Davis responded. “Them [people] ain’t gonna be able to stop none of this shit.”

“I’m the one to stop all that shit,” Roach replied.

But the back-and-forth truly started when the host asked Davis and Roach what round they would knock their opponent out in. Several of Roach’s fans began to yell their thoughts.

“I’ma beat his ass for y’all talking,” Davis said. “So y’all better be quiet. I don’t care about none of that. I don’t care about no hood, none of that. I’ma fuck him up.”

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.