By: Sean Crose
It’s official. WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis will defend his crown this March 1st in Brooklyn against Lamont Roach. The scheduled 12 rounder, which will go down at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, will highlight a PBC pay per view event. It will be Davis’s first fight since he knocked out Frank Martin back in June. As for Roach, the 25-1-1 fighter was last seen stopping Feargal McCrory earlier that same month. A Davis-Roach fight was supposed to have occurred in Texas this month, but ended up being pushed back to late winter. The promotion will officially kick off with a Tuesday press conference in Brooklyn.
Although many have longed for the 30 year old Davis to engage with a highly touted opponent such as Shakur Stevenson, Roach is no slouch. The man is fast, he hits hard and his one loss – to Jamel Herring back in 2019 – was due in large part to Herring’s strategy of holding, which effectively broke Roach’s momentum. Davis isn’t the type of fighter to make holding a part of his game plan. Stylistically, at least the 29 year old Roach has a chance against the popular fighter they call “Tank,” perhaps a quite solid one.
It won’t be easy defeating Davis. The 30-0 fighter hasn’t lost a single match, after all. Furthermore, only two of Davis’ opponents have been able to make it to the final bell against the Baltimore native. There’s a reason for Davis’ popularity. People like fighters who know how to close the show, and Davis can close it as good as anybody. He’s powerful, fast, and razor sharp in his performances. No fighter is invincible, however, so a decent opponent must never be overlooked – neither by the fans nor by the fighter himself. And Roach is most certainly a decent opponent.
Davis is an interesting case. He’s clearly exciting and talented, but there are those who argue he hasn’t lived up to his potential. While Davis handily bested Ryan Garcia in a 2023 superfight, he has taken heat for not facing opponents like Stevenson or Vasyl Lomachenko (although Lomachenko has taken the rest of the year off). Ultimately, big fights might come down the road. At the moment, however, Davis will wisely keep his focus on the upset minded Roach. Upsets happen all the time, and Davis clearly doesn’t want to be stunned by an opponent most expected him to win against.