Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs Lamont Roach Jnr on pay-per-view

Pick it: Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach Jnr

When to watch: Saturday, March 1 at 8 p.m. ET (1 a.m. GMT)

A free preliminary broadcast begins at 6 p.m. ET (11 p.m. GMT) on Amazon’s Prime Video, available whether or not you’re a subscriber.

How to watch: Pay-per-view via Amazon’s Prime Video, PPV.com and traditional cable and satellite outlets.

Why to watch: This is a fight involving Gervonta “Tank” Davis, one of the most popular boxers in the United States. It is a fight between a reigning lightweight titleholder (Davis) and a reigning junior lightweight titleholder (Lamont Roach Jnr). And it is a fight between two men with history and geographic proximity.

Davis is a 30-year-old from Baltimore, while Roach is a 29-year-old from Washington, D.C., less than an hour down Interstate 95 (longer if you take Route 1 or the B-W Parkway, since this aside is what you’re forced to read when you get a local fight writer to write about two local fighters).

They met as amateurs twice in 2011, back when they were both teenagers, Davis winning both. Davis turned pro in 2013, won a world title at 130lbs, became the WBA’s secondary titleholder at 135lbs in December 2019 and was elevated to full titleholder in late November 2023 after undisputed champion Devin Haney vacated his belts. 

(Davis also dipped his toes into the junior welterweight pool in 2021, stopping the previously unbeaten Mario Barrios, who is now a welterweight titleholder.)

Davis had his first defense last June, an eighth-round knockout of previously undefeated contender Frank Martin, bringing his record to 30-0 (28 KOs).

Roach, 25-1-1 (10 KOs), took that lone loss in December 2019, when he lost to titleholder Jamel Herring. Roach says he has improved since then, and that led to his WBA title win against Hector Garcia via split decision in November 2023. (Davis stopped Garcia in nine rounds earlier that year.) Roach also made his first defense last June, stopping the 16-0 Feargal McCrory in eight rounds.

While Davis-Roach is the biggest fight of the week, there are those who are less thrilled about the bout. They wanted – and have long wanted – to see Davis take on the top tier of lightweights. But this fight with Roach is what we got when those top-tier lightweights were not available or agreeable. 

This fight won’t convince any of Davis’ detractors, but it will bring a large crowd to Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and he will seek another highlight-reel performance.  

The lightweight division remains fractured. There is a big gap in proven talent between the four titleholders and the remaining contenders. And there are potential business obstacles that could keep some unification bouts from being made.

That will be for Davis and his team to figure out should they win this Saturday. Meanwhile, if Roach triumphs, he would head straight for a rematch and another lucrative payday.

The pay-per-view undercard features three bouts, plus a preliminary two-bout broadcast streaming for free beforehand.

Alberto Puello vs Sandor Martin: Puello, 23-0 (10 KOs), picked up the WBC’s interim junior welterweight title last June with a split decision over Gary Antuanne Russell. He was elevated to the primary title after Devin Haney was named the sanctioning body’s “champion in recess,” a distinction Haney no longer has now that he is instead ranked at 147lbs.

Martin, 42-3 (15 KOs), defeated Mikey Garcia via majority decision in 2021 and received the short end of a split decision against Teofimo Lopez Jnr in December 2022. Martin picked up two victories in 2023 but didn’t fight at all last year. Will he be rusty against Puello? And will he finally reach the upper rungs at 140lbs?

The winner of Puello-Martin may also have an eye on unifying against the winner of another undercard bout.

Jose Valenzuela vs Gary Antuanne Russell: Valenzuela, 14-2 (9 KOs), nabbed the WBA title at 140lbs with a split decision over Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz in August. A potential rematch with Cruz took Valenzuela out of the running for a clash with Gervonta “Tank” Davis, but Cruz went a different direction and now “Rayo” will instead be making his first defense against Russell.

Russell, 17-1 (17 KOs), lost a split decision to Puello in June in a fight for the WBC interim title. Now he has a second chance against Valenzuela. The winner not only exits with the world title but has a range of prospective opponents in a packed weight class, including a potential unification match with the Puello-Martin victor.

Yoenis Tellez vs Julian Williams: Tellez, 9-0 (7 KOs), is a junior middleweight prospect who could be on the verge of a title shot despite his relatively limited pro accomplishments. In 2024, Tellez outpointed the 19-0 Joseph Jackson and stopped the 35-3 Johan Gonzalez in seven rounds. That landed Tellez in three sets of sanctioning body rankings, including a No. 2 slot with the WBA. With WBA junior middleweight titleholder Terence Crawford likely moving up to 168lbs to challenge Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, could that lead to Crawford vacating the belt and Tellez competing for it?

First he’ll need to get by Williams, 29-4-1 (17 KOs). After beating Jarrett Hurd for two world titles in 2019, Williams has gone just 2-3. He was stopped by Jeison Rosario in 2020; dropped an upset split decision to the 12-4 Vladimir Hernandez in 2021; moved up to 160lbs to beat a 18-11-1 foe in 2022; lost to then-interim titleholder Carlos Adames via ninth-round TKO in 2023; and last fought in January 2024, making quick work of a 29-15-1 opponent. This may be Williams’ last chance to get back in the title picture in this talented weight class.

In the streaming prelims, available on Prime Video for subscribers and non-subscribers alike, Jarrett Hurd will fight Johan Gonzalez and Geo Lopez will face Alex Dilmaghani.

Hurd, 25-3-1 (17 KOs), is a faded former unified 154lb titleholder now fighting at middleweight. He drew with the similarly faded Jeison Rosario in August.

Gonzalez, 35-4 (34 KOs), has lost two of his last three, stopped by Jesus Ramos Jnr last May and the aforementioned Tellez in October.

Lopez, 17-0 (12 KOs), is a junior lightweight prospect last seen shutting out the 15-2 Richard Medina over eight rounds in September.

Dilmaghani, 20-3-1 (17 KOs), is returning from a seventh-round stoppage loss last June to an overweight Rene Tellez Giron.

Thursday, February 27: Kim Clavel vs Anabel Ortiz (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. ET (midnight GMT).

Clavel, 20-2 (3 KOs), is a 34-year-old former junior flyweight titleholder from Montreal. He is now competing at 105lbs for this main event at the Casino de Montreal.

Clavel won the WBC belt at 108lbs in July 2022 but lost it in her next fight, a unification bout with WBA titleholder Jesica Nery Plata, who won the unanimous decision in January 2023. Clavel challenged for the IBF and WBO titles in October 2023 but dropped a split decision to Evelin Nazarena Bermudez. Since then, Clavel has notched three consecutive wins.

Ortiz, 34-7 (4 KOs), is a 38-year-old from Mexico City. She held the WBC belt at 105lbs from 2009 until 2011, then owned the WBA title at strawweight from 2013 until her reign ended at the hands of Seniesa Estrada in 2021. Ortiz has gone 3-3 since then, moving up and down the scales, including a unanimous decision loss to Sara Bailey at junior flyweight in December.

Friday, February 28: Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez vs Rene Tellez Giron (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. ET (1 a.m. GMT).

Hernandez, 36-2 (32 KOs), is a former junior lightweight title challenger who has been involved in a couple of controversies.

In 2023, Hernandez was well ahead on two scorecards going into the 12th round with titleholder O’Shaquie Foster – scores that many unofficial observers vehemently disagree with. Thanks to open scoring, Foster was somewhat aware of the deficit and was able to avert the robbery by stopping Hernandez in the final seconds of the final round.

And last September, in Hernandez’s most recent appearance, against Thomas Mattice, he benefited from a dubious ruling that a cut had been caused by a clash of heads rather than a punch. And so what could have been a sixth-round TKO win for Mattice wound up as a technical decision for Hernandez.

For this fight, Hernandez, a 27-year-old from Mexico City, is headlining at the Hilton Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. His foe is Giron, who is also no stranger to controversy.

Last June, Giron benefited from coming in overweight for his fight with Alex Dilmaghani, winning via stoppage after seven rounds. That landed Giron a fight with lightweight contender Floyd Schofield in November; Schofield was dropped in the 11th but otherwise won a wide decision. Giron, a 26-year-old from Queretaro, Mexico, is now 20-4 (13 KOs).

Saturday, March 1: Subriel Matias vs Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. ET (midnight GMT).

The winner of this fight will be rated No. 1 at 140lbs by the IBF and in position to challenge Richardson Hitchins. Matias is ranked No. 3 by the sanctioning body while Valenzuela is No. 4; the top two spots are vacant.

Matias, 21-2 (21 KOs), is himself a former IBF junior welterweight titleholder who lost the belt to Liam Paro last June; Paro subsequently dropped the title to Hitchins. Matias returned in November, losing the first round to the 26-3-1 Roberto Ramirez before coming back to score a second-round TKO. 

Matias will headline in his hometown of Fajardo, Puerto Rico, at the Coliseo Municipal Tomas Dones.

Valenzuela, 30-3-1 (17 KOs), suffered two of his defeats very early in his career, including a decision loss to a very young William Zepeda. He then had 22 victories and one draw before losing a close decision to Montana Love in May 2022. Valenzuela has scored five consecutive wins since.

Saturday, March 1: Lewis Crocker vs Paddy Donovan (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 2 p.m. ET (7 p.m. GMT).

This battle of unbeaten welterweights headlines at The SSE Arena Belfast in Northern Ireland. 

Belfast is where Crocker, 20-0 (11 KOs), is from. The 28-year-old is coming off a unanimous decision over the 13-2-1 Conah Walker in June.

Donovan, 14-0 (11 KOs), is a 26-year-old who lives in Limerick, Ireland. He stopped the 23-3 Lewis Ritson in nine rounds last May.

This fight will move the winner up in the ratings.

Crocker is ranked No. 5 by the IBF, No. 3 by the WBA and No. 7 by the WBO. 

Donovan is slotted No. 6 by the IBF, No. 5 by the WBA and No. 14 by the WBC.

Saturday, March 1: Ryan Garner vs Salvador Jimenez, and Joe Joyce returns (TNT Sports 1)

The broadcast begins at 2 p.m. ET (7 p.m. GMT).

This show at the Bournemouth International Centre in Bournemouth, England, features a pair of unbeaten junior lightweights in the main event, plus a few other notable names.

Garner, 16-0 (8 KOs), is a 27-year-old from Southampton, England. In 2024, he picked up a pair of unanimous decisions over the 13-1-1 Liam Dillon and the 25-0 Archie Sharp.

Jimenez, 14-0-1 (6 KOs), is a 29-year-old fighting for the first time outside of his native Spain. Last year he had two TKOs, taking out the 11-1 Diego Lagos after five rounds and the 17-15 Edinson Torres in two rounds.

Also on this card: Heavyweight Joe Joyce, 16-3 (15 KOs), will return from his decision loss to Derek Chisora last July, shaking off some rust before an April 5 clash with Dillian Whyte. Joyce’s opponent is listed as Patrick Korte, 22-4-1 (18 KOs), who was put away in two rounds by Hughie Fury last May before taking a six-round decision over the 19-24 Pavel Sour in October.

The broadcast will also feature a fight between unbeaten light heavyweights Lewis Edmondson, 10-0 (3 KOs), and Oluwatosin Kejawa, 11-0 (5 KOs).

Saturday, March 1: Alexas Kubicki vs Fara El Bousairi (BXNG TV)

The broadcast begins at 9 p.m. ET (2 a.m. GMT).

Kubicki, 11-1 (2 KOs), is a 21-year-old flyweight from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She will be headlining at her hometown’s River Cree Resort and Casino. Her lone loss came in May 2023, when she lost a decision to the 2-3-2 Linda Contreras Ibarra. Kubicki has won five in a row since.

El Bousairi, 9-4 (3 KOs), is a 31-year-old from Spain. She lost a majority decision to Kim Clavel last April and then outpointed the 11-30-5 Jasmina Nad in June.