On December 23rd, the undefeated WBA world lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis published a post on social media stating his scheduled title defense against WBA super-featherweight champion Lamont Roach Jr (25-1-1, 10 KOs) has been canceled.
In early October, Gervonta Davis initially announced that the world title fight between him and Lamont Roach would take place on December 14th at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Weeks later, another announcement was made in regards to the Tank vs Roach clash being postponed.
No one gave an official reason for the delay, but some speculated the postponement was due to venue issues. In late November, a new fight date and location was released to the public, as March 1, 2025 became the new date, and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York became the new location.
The postponement seemed to work in favor of fans of this fight due to the venue change. Baltimore and Washington DC are rivals cities that are separated by approximately 40 miles. Due to the fact that Gervonta Davis is from Baltimore, Maryland, and Lamont Roach is a native of Washington DC, it made perfect sense to move the fight to the Barclays Center.
Everything seemed to be set and ready to go until Gervonta Davis made the decision to release a brief, but yet unexpected public statement via social media saying, “The Fight Is F**king Cancel…”
After viewing the post, fight fans were shocked and confused. As fans tried to get answers, Davis elected not to provide any details as he apparently logged off of social media. Fans turned to the challenger Lamont Roach in regards to getting answers, and Roach responded in a post by stating,
“The f**k ya keep asking me for? he said that sh*t not me. I’m locked in ain’t sh*t changed. March 1st Brooklyn #ANDNEW.”
Although it was never properly addressed, the first postponement was probably due to an issue as it relates to booking the Toyota Center. This recent alleged cancellation is definitely not a venue issue because the Barclays Center has the Tank vs Roach fight listed on their website’s calendar events.
If the alleged cancellation has nothing to do with the venue, could it be an issue related to finances? Is Gervonta Davis not satisfied with the guaranteed money that’s being offered to him by PBC? For the past few years, boxing insiders having been making claims that PBC is running out of money, and there may be some truth to the claim.
After a highly successful launch in March 2015, the PBC had a stellar run, but during the past few years, the PBC has displayed a lack of activity. The total number of shows the PBC produces per year is on a consistent decline.
In addition to potential financial issues, the PBC is also showing a lack of communication skills. Gervonta “Tank” Davis is probably the biggest draw on PBC’s roster. Davis claims his upcoming fight is canceled, and then after the claim, he doesn’t give any follow-up.
The challenger Lamont Roach puts out a statement saying he hasn’t heard about the fight being cancelled as he plans to continue his training. The PBC proceeds to leave the fans in limbo as they neglect to provide any type of clarity in regards to the status of the March 1st world title bout.
So…, is the Tank vs Roach fight on or off? When you look at this fight and put it in perspective, this bout is a fight for the casual boxing fans. The casuals are sold on the Baltimore vs DC narrative. Hardcore boxing fans can care less about the geographical narrative as they view Tank vs Roach as an underwhelming matchup.
Gervonta Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) did try to make a more appealing bout against Vasiliy Lomachenko, but since the war broke out in Ukraine and his close loss to Devin Haney, Lomachenko doesn’t seem to have the same passion towards the sport of boxing, as it looks like he may be contemplating retirement.
Currently, neither Al Haymon nor any of his PBC associates have provided a formal update on the Tank vs Roach bout. In order to support events like this, fight fans have to make financial sacrifices and organize things in their personal lives so they can travel, and support sporting events such as boxing.
With that being said, it’s rather ludicrous how this much of time has elapsed, and no one from the PBC thought it may be a good idea to release a public statement on the status of the fight. Have you ever heard claims of an NFL or NBA game being canceled and no one formally addresses the issue?
If the fight does happen, boxing fans will watch because they’re longtime supporters of the sport. If the fight doesn’t happen, the casuals will be disappointed, but hardcore fans will just brush it off and look forward to Gervonta Davis giving them a matchup that they’ve been asking for.
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