Gervonta Davis was silent for a long time. Not the composure of a fighter waiting for the right moment, but the kind that moves in after momentum slips. The draw with Lamont Roach didn’t just stop his run. It exposed a break in rhythm that used to define him. The moment he took a knee and reached for his face, the spell broke. Fighters who are in full control don’t need explanations in the middle of the round.
Now the talk has returned, and so has the famous name. Isaac Cruz. Davis clearly addressed that, saying, “As soon as my knee gets better.” It wasn’t bravado. It sounded like someone was still checking the machinery. That line suggested uncertainty, not fear, but awareness of limits that were never there before.
The first fight worked because Davis set the pace. He forced Cruz to reset over and over, stealing momentum in small increments. That version of Davis lived on timing and balance. He was in no hurry. He didn’t rush. He dropped opponents in his lineup and punished them for it. That kind of control only ages well if the reflexes stay sharp.
Cruz has since changed. He is no longer a straight-line attacker who burns energy in the first half of rounds. At 140, he learned to pause, to touch and step, to let the other man commit first. His pressure is quieter now. More patient. This matters against someone whose game depends on reading the first move.
The question is not whether Davis still has power. Power is usually the last thing to go. The question is whether the timing that made his counters deadly still remains in his bones. When timing passes, everything else follows. The hands slowly. The reading comes late. The fight turns into work.
If Davis can still manage distance like he did in the past, he can control this fight without fireworks. If he can’t, Cruz will push him, lean on him and turn every exchange into a grind. That kind of fight doesn’t end suddenly. It ends with the judges tallying up little moments that once belonged to Davis and no longer do.
Click here to subscribe to our FREE newsletter
Related Boxing News:
Last updated on 01/02/2026
