Gervonta "Tank" Davis' history of slow starts nearly caught up to him Saturday night.
Davis' defense of his WBA lightweight championship against Lamont Roach Jr. ended in a majority draw in front of a stunned soldout crowd of 19,250 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Davis retained his title in a fight he would like to soon forget.
Two judges scored the fight 114-114 while a third judge scored it 115-113 in Davis' favor. ESPN scored the fight 114-114.
"Lamont is a great fighter," Davis said after the fight. "He got the skills, like I said before, he got punching power. It was a lesson. Hopefully, we can run it back."
In a strange scene that could have turn the tide of the fight, Davis inexplicably took a knee in the ninth round after getting touched by a jab, but referee Steve Wilkes decided not to score a knockdown for Roach. Davis suggested the reason he went to a knee was because grease from his hair had gotten into his eye. The fight resumed with no penalty, but the knockdown could have swung the pendulum in favor of Roach.
Had the knockdown been called, Roach could have won the ninth round by a 10-8 score. Instead, two of the judges scored the round 10-9 for Davis.
"I just got my hair done two days ago and she put grease in my hair," Davis said. "When I was sweating and things like that, it burned my eyes."
Roach didn't disagree with Davis' assessment of the situation. However, he made it clear that the rules are the rules and he should have been awarded a knockdown.
"If you take a knee and the ref starts counting, it should be a knockdown," Roach said. "If that's a knockdown, I win the fight. I'm not banking on that knockdown to win. I just thought I pulled it out."
Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) entered the fight as a massive -2000 betting favorite on ESPN BET and was expected by many to collect his 29th career knockout by stopping Roach, who was making his lightweight debut. Behind a pro-Davis crowd, "Tank" was unable to give the fans the highlight-reel finish they have come to expect from the Baltimore native.
Instead, Roach (25-1-2) stood in the line of fire, absorbed what the hard-hitting Davis had to offer and responded with shots that stunned not only Davis but those in attendance.
The notoriously patient Davis got off to a slow start in the early rounds as he waited for Roach to make a mistake that he could capitalize on. But Roach refused to give Davis the window to counter and pressed the action. Davis smiled and talked to Roach early in the fight but had to get serious once he realized that his opponent wouldn't wilt under the bright lights.
Roach Jr., 29, had faced Davis in the amateurs and fell short. Their careers went in different directions once they turned pro with Davis being one of boxing's biggest stars and Roach being known as a solid fighter who lost in his only other opportunity at a world championship in a defeat to Jamel Herring for the WBO super featherweight title in 2019.
Davis' ascent to stardom was punctuated by his knockout win over Ryan Garcia in 2023, where he laid claim to be the face of boxing. He almost let the title slip away in an underwhelming performance. Their history may have given Davis a false sense of confidence heading into the fight, but Roach was well prepared for everything "Tank" had to offer, including his renowned fight ending power.
By the middle rounds, Davis' smile dissolved, and he realized that the knockout he expected wouldn't come easy. The champion began to let his hands go to create openings, but Roach held his ground and caught the champion with counters and combinations. Davis worked almost exclusively to the body, banging away as Roach stayed on the front foot and pushed forward. Undeterred, Roach would sneak a counter in whenever Davis' assault stalled. In Round 8, Roach stunned Davis with a counter right hand. Although Davis was never in any real danger, the counterpunching signaled that he couldn't rumble in recklessly.
"I feel like I was breaking him down as the rounds were going on, but he kept coming, so I didn't want to make no mistakes," Davis said. "I kept it cautious."
Realizing the fight could be slipping away, Davis, 30, pressed the action in the championship rounds. Although he landed some big power shots, he never came close to hurting Roach. But the activity gave him the final two rounds on all three scorecards to salvage the draw and leave New York with the title.
Davis landed 103 of 279 punches in an extremely economic affair while Roach was more active, landing 112 of 400 punches.
"I'm just a little disappointed in the decision," Roach said. "I thought I pulled it out, but that's what two skilled fighters do. I definitely thought I won but we could run it back. ... Even though I didn't win tonight, I thought I did but it's a win for me in my book. We are not satisfied with that. We need a real 'W.'"