The World Boxing Association has given WBA super featherweight champion Lamont Roach permission to move up to lightweight to challenge Gervonta Davis for his 135-lb title on December 14.
According to the WBAif Roach defeats Tank Davis, he will have five days to decide whether to retain his super featherweight title or the lightweight belt. If Roach loses the fight, he will have 120 days to defend against his WBA super featherweight “official challenger”.
Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs) will be allowed to retain his WBA 130-lb title as he moves up to challenge Gervonta (30-0, 28 KOs) for his belt at lightweight with that sanctioning body.
This fight is considered business as Roach is from Washington, DC and Tank Davis is from Baltimore. Fans from that area of ​​the East Coast will buy tickets in large numbers, and it’s likely to be a sellout wherever the game takes place.
The fight is also an easy one for Davis, who won’t be putting himself in danger of getting punished like he would if he was fighting one of the contenders the fans would prefer to see him.
There is more demand for Davis (29) to defend his WBA belt against Edwin De Los Santos, Floyd Schofield, William Zepeda, Raymond Muratalla and Keyshawn Davis.
Tank Davis would find those fights difficult and sustain a lot of punishment in the process of winning them. Davis’ management at PBC gets sharp by picking up a fight against the smaller, weaker Lamont Roach, who is a finesse-level fighter in the Shakur Stevenson mold.
It is not a popular decision among the fans for Tank Davis to defend against Roach for these reasons:
- Walk away from Gervonta’s last two opponents
- Not well regarded by fans
- Poor puncher
- Struggled against previous Tank KO victim Hector Garcia
Few fans on social media understand why Tank chose to defend against Roach, a fighter from the 130-lb division, rather than one of the top contenders at 135. However, that is how Davis has been matched his entire career.
His management carefully maneuvered him in a calculated way, avoiding risks and focusing on sure-thing fights. Davis would be more popular if he fought better opposition, but he would have taken a lot of damage along the way.
