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The WBA will pursue a rematch between Gervonta Davis and Lamont Roach Jr, after their “very controversial” draw on Saturday.
Davis retained his WBA lightweight title and his unbeaten record, yet he was arguably saved from defeat by referee Steve Willis. In round nine, Davis took a knee after a punch from Roach then rushed to his corner to have his face wiped. He later argued that the “grease” in his hair was “burning” his eyes, and while Willis lectured Davis in the moment, the official awarded no knockdown to Roach – nor did the judges.
A knockdown would have meant a 10-8 round in Roach’s favour on all three scorecards, securing him victory over “Tank” in Brooklyn.
“I think it’s not going to be [a] doubt about having a rematch on this,” WBA president Gilberto Mendoza told The Ring. “[I] think this supersedes the public perception of boxing involved here with a huge star for the sport, and we need to send a strong message out there. It was a very controversial night.
“Maybe [Willis] saw a competitive fight. Maybe he saw it wasn’t a punch, but how can you understand how he put the knee on the canvas?”
Mendoza was referring to the fact that Davis’s decision to take a knee did not come immediately after Roach landed his punch.
“It should have been a knockdown,” Roach said after the fight. “If that was knockdown, I win the fight. He’s saying grease got in his eye, but if he takes a knee and the ref starts counting, it should be a knockdown. It is what it is. I’m not banking on that knockdown to win. I just thought I pulled it out.”
Davis tweeted: “They took the fight from me and made it a draw becuz I did that bulls*** knee..but I landed the most punches in the fight..he didn’t even hit me w[ith] a punch when I took the knee. I get it though, I shouldn’t have done that but that hair grease was burning my eyes!”
After the fight, Davis had said: “To be honest, I really made it competitive. Lamont is a great fighter. He’s got the skills, he’s got punching power. It was a learned lesson. Shout out to Lamont Roach and his whole team. Hopefully we can run it back.”
