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NEW YORK – Gervonta Davis laughed when he was informed during their post-fight press conference that Rolando Romero requested an immediate rematch a few minutes earlier Sunday morning.
“Hey, I don’t know, man,” Davis replied. “Shout out to him.”
All kidding aside, Davis doesn’t think what transpired during their lightweight title fight warrants a rematch. Davis drilled Romero with a counter left hand that instantly ended what was a very competitive fight through almost six full rounds at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Davis led Romero on the scorecards of judges Ron McNair (49-46) and Robin Taylor (48-47) following five rounds. Judge Kevin Morgan gave Romero credit for winning three rounds and had him ahead 48-47 entering that fateful sixth round.
The conclusion, of course, was decisive, despite that Romero (14-1, 12 KOs) wanted to continue when referee David Fields declared Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) the winner at 2:49 of the sixth round. That’s why Davis doesn’t see the need to fight Romero again.
“I don’t think people deserve a rematch if they get knocked out like that,” Davis said. “But not trying to be funny, but if it was a good fight leading up to the knockout, then like down the line, like if it was like the ninth round or 10th round, and you what I mean, somehow somebody caught him with a good shot. But I think it was probably – I was winning on the scorecards, I believe. I start warming up as the fight was going on and I don’t think we need a rematch. But I’m all ears and, you know, if anybody else wanna fight me at 135 – I always talk about 130, but I feel comfortable at 135.”
The 27-year-old Davis didn’t mention specific opponents he would like to face in his second fight of 2022.
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, downplayed the possibility of what would be a very marketable showdown with Ryan Garcia because Ellerbe doesn’t think Garcia (22-0, 18 KOs) is serious about wanting to fight Davis. Facing the winner of the upcoming George Kambosos Jr.-Devin Haney fight would afford Davis an opportunity to become boxing’s fully unified lightweight champion, but Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) would be contractually obligated to an immediate rematch in Australia if he beats Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) on Sunday afternoon at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne (ESPN; 9 p.m. ET Saturday).
Two other high-profile lightweights, Teofimo Lopez and Vasiliy Lomachenko, probably wouldn’t be options for Davis, either.
Brooklyn’s Lopez (16-1, 12 KOs), the former IBF/WBA/WBO champion Kambosos upset by split decision November 27, is expected to move up to the junior welterweight division for his next fight, which has not been scheduled. Ukraine’s Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) remains unavailable because the three-division champion is committed to assisting in his country’s military efforts in its war with Russia.
Whoever Davis fights, he’ll move forward with Mayweather Promotions, despite Davis’ indications before he beat Romero that this would mark the last fight of his longstanding partnership with Floyd Mayweather’s company. Ellerbe wouldn’t discuss specifics of Davis’ contract, but he confirmed during the post-fight press conference that Mayweather Promotions will continue to represent Davis.
When asked who could be next for the strong southpaw from Baltimore, Ellerbe replied, “Don’t know. Don’t know. Coming off of this terrific performance, you know, we’ll sit down and figure it out.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.