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An article on the WBA’s website has attempted to defend Steve Willis following the referee’s decision to not award a knockdown during the controversial draw between Gervonta Davis and Lamont Roach Jr.
Davis and Roach faced off for the WBA lightweight title on 1 March, with Davis requiring a highly contentious majority draw decision in order to defend his title.
The key moment happened in round nine when, having been hit by a punch from Roach, Davis then waited a moment before taking a knee. He then rushed to his corner and asked for his face to be wiped, later saying that “grease” from his hair was “burning” his eyes.
Referee Willis initially issued a count after the champion took a knee, though he later reversed that decision and ruled it as a non-knockdown.
The judges subsequently did not include the incident in their scoring, despite the fact that a knockdown for Roach would have given the challenger the victory. The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) later said that a “technical issue” prevented officials from reviewing replays of the incident.
And in a now-deleted post on their website, a WBA columnist attempted to defend Willis’ decision, saying that “from our perspective, Willis’ decision was not unreasonable or unjustifiable”.
“He ruled in real-time that Davis had not been struck by a punch before going down, and therefore, no knockdown should be recorded,” it said.
“Judges, by regulation, must follow the referee’s rulings – they do not have the authority to override his decisions on knockdowns.
“Some sceptics have suggested that Willis’ call benefitted Davis unfairly, but we do not subscribe to that notion,” it added.
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After the fight, WBA president Gilberto Mendoza announced the organisation’s desire to pursue a rematch between the two fighters, with both also calling for a rematch after the bout.
Meanwhile, the NYSAC has begun a review into the incident, saying in a statement that it is “dedicated to preserving the integrity of combative sports and is committed to working with all promotions and production teams – on behalf of the athletes, officials, and fans – to ensure technical issues do not occur in the future”.
