Stephen A. Smith is bothered by Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis choosing to defend his WBA lightweight title against super featherweight Lamont Roach in their next fight on March 1st at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The commentator Stephen A believes Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) should fight guys at 135 or 140 rather than cherry-picking a smaller, weaker fighter like Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs).
Protecting The Investment
Fans have the same argument, but that does not prevent Tank from making this move. There are enough people willing to purchase his events on PPV for him to continue making these kinds of mismatches.
The former Mayweather-promoted Tank Davis has been brought along in a low-yield way to take sure-thing fights, look great against overmatched opposition, and eventually make good money but not constantly huge dough. For his management, he’s been like an oil well, kept pumping oil slowly so as not to run dry.
“I think Roach is too small, and that’s my issue. I’m not questioning his skill set or anything like that,” said Stephen A. Smith to Sean Zittel, talking about his view on Gervonta Davis defending his WBA lightweight title against 130-pounder Lamont Roach on March 1st.
“It was similar to Frank Martin. This guy comes in there, and you have 18 fights. I remember watching their pre-fight press conference, and he was annoying Gervonta Davis so much. I knew Gervonta was going to come for him, and sure enough, that’s what he did. He walked right towards him from round one on.
“I remember what he said, and it really struck me. Gervonta is a smart dude, bro. He said, ‘You really, really should have waited. You don’t have enough experience. You really should have waited and took your time before you come to me,’ and that’s what Gervonta Davis told him. He was right. He was absolutely positively right,” said Stephen A.
Smith should understand that Frank Martin is 29, struggled against Artem Harutyunyan in his previous fight before fighting Tank, and he could not afford to turn down a mega-payday against him. If Martin is having massive problems against a like Artem, he’s not about to wait three to five years to gain enough experience to fight Gervonta. By then, the Baltimore native would be long retired, and Martin beat many times because he’s not that good.
“So, now here we are, fighting this guy Roach, and I’m like, ‘Isn’t this dude a junior lightweight [correction: super featherweight] moving up to lightweight?’ No, there’s no [chance for him]. That bothers me, and the reason why it bothers me is because Gervonta is too great and too skilled to be fighting dudes smaller than him.
“Gervonta can knockout welterweights. He can probably knock out a couple of middleweights, okay? Why are you fighting someone smaller? The only time I approve of great champions fighting smaller guys is when you’re not known for your power,” said Smith.
Tank cannot knock out middleweights unless they are bottom-rung fighters, and he is not stopping any of the quality welterweights.
If Stephen is talking about a paper champion at 147, like Mario Barrios. Yeah, Tank has already proven he can stop that guy, but he’s not beaten anyone since moving up to 147, aside from a badly de[pleted, ring-rusty Yordenis Ugas.
“You’re basically using your superior skillset and showing against a smaller, quicker guy that skills don’t dissipate. But if you’re a bigger guy and you’re clearly the power guy, that just leaves somebody at a distinct disadvantage, and I think that’s unfair.
“So, that’s how I look at it, and that’s what bothers me about Gervonta fighting this guy. There’s Teofimo Lopez at 140. Fight that brother. Fight somebody your size or bigger,” said Smith.
The Business Of Boxing
This is an example of Smith revealing that he’s just a casual fan with basic knowledge of the sport. His forte is obviously basketball and football rather than boxing.
It seems clear that Stephen A. doesn’t recognize how Tank Davis’ career has been orchestrated by his promoters and management. It’s not that he couldn’t fight the top guys his size or bigger, but rather, there was too much risk. It was easier to take low-risk fights.
The former Mayweather-promoted Gervonta has carefully moved since the beginning of his career, and nothing has changed. He’s never had a 50-50 fight, and sure isn’t about to start now that he’s supposedly at the end with just three fights left before retirement.
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