Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach is reportedly set for a rematch on August 16 in Las Vegas. The rematch is to clear up the controversy of their first fight on March 1st, which resulted in a twelve-round majority draw following the referee’s blown call on a knockdown of Tank in round nine. Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) gets a second chance, and Davis can show fans that he is the better fighter.
Mike Coppinger broke the story on X. Before it’s made official, PBC still needs to confirm the August 16th date.
Was it a Blown Call?
The reaction from fans to this news is mixed, with some pleased while others are put off. They feel that Tank Davis got away with murder with his hair excuse to weasel out of being knocked down in the ninth round last March.
That was a situation in which Roach nailed Davis with a jab, causing him to back up and take a knee. Davis then casually walked to his corner to have his trainer wipe his eyes clean. Davis asked for no timeout. Tank said he had “Hair grease” in his eyes and he wanted to have them cleaned. However, this kind of thing normally requires permission to be given to the fighter for him to have a time-out. In this case, it didn’t happen.
That should have resulted in a point deduction or a disqualification. So, not only did Roach lose out on a knockdown, he also missed out on winning by a point deduction. This shows you the importance of a good referee working world title fights. It would have made a big difference in this fight.
The referee, Steve Willis, took a passive approach, allowing Tank to take command like a King. He chose not to rule it a knockdown or penalize Davis for walking away. If Willis had taken a point off from Tank, Roach would have won the fight and come into the rematch with a bigger purse.