The World Boxing Association has granted WBA super featherweight champion Lamont Roach permission to move up to lightweight to challenge Gervonta Davis for his 135-lb title on December 14th.
According to the WBA, if Roach defeats Tank Davis, he’ll have five days to decide whether to keep his super featherweight title or the lightweight belt. If Roach loses the fight, he’ll have 120 days to defend against his WBA super featherweight “official challenger.”
Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs) will be permitted to retain his WBA 130-lb title while moving up to challenge Gervonta (30-0, 28 KOs) for his belt at lightweight with that sanctioning body.
This fight is viewed as a business one, as Roach is from Washington, D.C., and Tank Davis is from Baltimore. Fans from that area of the East Coast will purchase tickets in huge numbers, and it’ll likely be a sellout wherever the match is staged.
The fight is also an easy one for Davis, who won’t put himself at risk of punishment like he would if he fought one of the contenders that fans would prefer to see him against.
There’s more of a demand for Davis, 29, to defend his WBA belt against Edwin De Los Santos, Floyd Schofield, William Zepeda, Raymond Muratalla, and Keyshawn Davis.
Tank Davis would find those fights difficult and sustain a lot of punishment in the process of winning them. Davis’ management at PBC is being shrewd by setting up a fight against the smaller, weaker Lamont Roach, who is a finesse-level fighter in the Shakur Stevenson mold.
It’s not a popular decision with the fans for Tank Davis to be defending against Roach for these reasons:
- Step down from Gervonta’s last two opponents
- Not well-regarded by fans
- Weak puncher
- Struggled against past Tank KO victim Hector Garcia
Few fans on social media understand why Tank is choosing to defend against Roach, a fighter from the 130-lb division, rather than one of the top contenders at 135. However, this is how Davis has been matched his entire career.
His management has carefully maneuvered him in a calculated way, avoiding risks and focusing on sure-thing fights. Davis would be more popular if he’d fought better opposition, but he’d have sustained a lot of damage along the way.
Read the full article here
