Two individuals connected to the business of Gervonta “Tank” Davis’ WBA lightweight title defense against junior lightweight champion Lamont Roach Jnr have confirmed to BoxingScene that plans for a Dec. 14 bout in Houston are being reworked.
One promising solution is to pair Davis-Roach with the attractive light heavyweight bout between unbeaten talents David Benavidez and David Morrell, who are seeking a Jan. 25 Prime Video pay-per-view fight in Las Vegas.
“That becomes a big event then,” said one of the officials.
While the 30-0 (28 KOs) Davis had pushed for his next title defense to be placed in Houston, a series of situations made the effort “wobbly,” according to one individual.
Davis originally sought to fight a lightweight unification against IBF champion Vasiliy Lomachenko or WBC champion Shakur Stevenson, but Lomachenko balked and the Stevenson talks stalled.
Because Davis will be heavily favored against Roach, Premier Boxing Champions has sought to beef up the card with a quality featherweight-title rematch between newly elevated WBC champion Brandon Figueroa and Stephen Fulton after Fulton won their super-bantamweight title fight in 2021.
Former middleweight champion Jermall Charlo has also reportedly been mentioned to be on the card.
That pay-per-view card figured to undersell during the heart of the holiday season and just one week before Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury II. With Benavidez-Morrell potentially looming just six weeks later than the planned date, a return doubleheader featuring Davis and Benavidez would give PBC a strong launching pad to what could be a strong 2025.
PBC is also plotting a title defense in the ultra-deep junior-middleweight division by its unified champion Sebastian Fundora, and the promotion has staged the past three pay-per-view fights by four-division champion Canelo Alvarez, who’s planning to return on a Cinco de Mayo card.
When he defeated Frank Martin June 15 in his most recent title defense on a Prime Video pay-per-view in Las Vegas, Davis, 29, professed his admiration for the 29-0 (24 KOs) former super-middleweight champion Benavidez, who defeated former light-heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk in that night’s co-main.
Davis said then that he’d be willing to flip-flop roles with Benavidez—from main event to co-main—should the situation present itself.
Benavidez vs Morrell, 11-0 (9 KOs) is a hotly anticipated bout between PBC stablemates in their primes.
They currently stand as WBC interim 175-pound champion (Benavidez) and WBA secondary champion (Morrell) behind newly crowned undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
PBC officials did not immediately return messages left to them by BoxingScene following the initial report of Davis moving off Dec. 14 by Dan Rafael’s “Fight Freaks United!” Substack.
Roach promoter Garry Jonas, who owns ProBox TV and BoxingScene, declined comment on the matter, as did Benavidez promoter Sampson Lewkowicz.
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