NYSAC Makes Final Ruling On Gervonta Davis Vs. Lamont Roach Jr. Fight

The ruling will stand.

Per multiple reports, despite the New York State Athletic Commission ruling that several errors were committed on Saturday, March 1, during the Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr. fight, the bout will remain a draw, and Tank is still the WBA lightweight champion.

Roach and his team had appealed the decision because Davis took a knee in the ninth round, and it was not ruled a knockdown. Had referee Steve Willis ruled Davis down, as he should have, Roach would have been up on two of the scorecards.

After the fight, Davis said grease from his hair was dripping into his eye, and he took a knee as a reaction to the irritation. According to Davis, he went to the corner to wipe his face and eyes—all of which is prohibited in the middle of a round.

One judge scored the fight 115-113 for Davis, and the other two had it 114-114, even.

During the post-fight presser, Roach said he wasn’t upset about Davis not being penalized a point because he felt he did enough to win the fight even without the odd situation being ruled a knockdown.

I agree with him. I scored the fight 116-112 in his favor, and I was at the Barclays Center with the media for the fight.

Nevertheless, both men have expressed interest in a rematch. The fight on March 1 drew more than 19,000 fans, and Davis is believed to have earned between $15 and $20 million for his efforts, while Roach took away a career-best $3 to $5 million for the draw.

Because of how closely contested the first fight was, the rematch should be even more popular with fans and more lucrative for both fighters.

FightsATW’s Michael Woods, whom I was sitting next to in the media section, summed up the ruling:

It’s like I figured fight night: let’s book the rematch, and both guys will know they need to do more to get the W. Oh, and let’s make sure moving forward nobody is using sneaky hair gel.

Roach, who is the reigning WBA super featherweight champion, may be done competing at 130 pounds.

There are much bigger fights for him at 135 pounds—especially after his strong showing against Davis. Should Roach defeat Davis in the rematch, a third fight would then become a possibility, and it would garner both men even bigger paydays.

While Davis wasn’t technically the winner on Saturday, he did get a victory of sorts. As one of the only remaining holdouts among major boxing superstars who have yet to align themselves with Turki Alalshikh, Davis now finds himself in a compelling rivalry that should sell outside of the Riyadh Season umbrella.

The biggest criticism against Davis is that he hasn’t fought anyone of merit, which is something that would have to change if he went into business with Alalshikh. With Roach performing well against him—and even winning in the eyes of some—the opposition is validated, and thus some of the criticism about Davis’ strength of schedule will go away for now.