Stephen A. Smith is bothered by Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis who chooses to defend his WBA lightweight title against super featherweight Lamont Roach in their next fight on March 1st at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Commentator Stephen A believes Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) should fight guys at 135 or 140 rather than picking a smaller, weaker fighter like Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs).
Protection of the investment
Fans have the same argument, but that doesn’t stop Tank from making this move. There are enough people willing to buy his events on PPV for him to keep making these kinds of mismatches.
Former Mayweather promoter Tank Davis was brought along in a low yield way to fight sure-thing fights, look good against excess opposition, and ultimately make good money, but not constantly big dough. To his management he was like an oil well, preserved oil pump slowly not to run dry.
“I think Roach is too small, and that’s my problem. I’m not questioning his skills or anything like that,” said Stephen A. Smith Sean Zitteland talks about his views on Gervonta Davis defending his WBA lightweight title against Lamont Roach at 130 pounds on March 1st.
“It was similar to Frank Martin. This guy gets in there, and you have 18 fights. I remember watching their pre-fight press conference, and he annoyed Gervonta Davis so much. I knew Gervonta was going to come get him, and sure enough, that’s what he did. He walked right at him from round one.
“I remember what he said, and it really struck me. Gervonta is a smart guy, bro. He said: ‘You really should have waited. You don’t have enough experience. You really should have waited and taken your time before coming to me,’ and that’s what Gervonta Davis told him. He was right. He was absolutely positively right,” said Stephen A.
Smith needs to understand that Frank Martin is 29, struggled in his previous fight against Artem Harutyunyan before he fought, and he couldn’t afford to turn down a mega payday against him. If Martin has big problems against a similar Artem, he is not going to wait three to five years to gain enough experience to fight Gervonta. By then, the Baltimore native would have been long retired, and Martin has been beaten many times for not being that good.
“So, now here we are, fighting this guy Roach, and I’m like, ‘Isn’t this guy a junior lightweight (correction: super featherweight) moving up to lightweight?’ No, there’s no (chance for him). It bothers me, and the reason it bothers me is because Gervonta is too big and too skilled to fight guys smaller than him.
“Gervonta can knock out welterweights. He can probably knock out some middleweights, okay? Why are you fighting with someone who is smaller? The only time I approve of big champions fighting smaller guys is when you’re not known for your strength,” Smith said.
Tank can’t knock out middleweights unless they’re bottom fighters, and he doesn’t stop any of the quality welterweights.
If Stephen is talking about a paper champion at 147, like Mario Barrios. Yeah, Tank has already proven he can stop that guy, but he hasn’t beaten anyone since moving up to 147, except for a severely impoverished, ring-rust Yordenis Ugas.
“You basically use your superior skills and show against a smaller, faster guy that skills don’t disappear. But if you’re a bigger guy and you’re clearly the power guy, that just leaves someone at a clear disadvantage, and I think that’s unfair.
“So, that’s the way I look at it, and that’s what bothers me about Gervonta fighting this guy. There’s Teofimo Lopez at 140. Fight that brother. Fight someone your size or bigger,” Smith said.
The Business Of Boxing
This is an example of Smith’s disclosure that he just a casual fan with basic knowledge of the sport. His forte is obviously basketball and football rather than boxing.
It seems clear that Stephen A. does not realize how Tank Davis’ career has been orchestrated by his promoters and management. It’s not that he couldn’t fight the top guys his size or bigger, but rather, there was too much risk. It was easier to take low-risk fights.
Former Mayweather promoter Gervonta has moved cautiously since the start of his career, and nothing has changed. He’s never had a 50-50 fight, and certainly isn’t going to start now that he’s supposedly at the end with just three fights left before retirement.
