One of the biggest disappointments in boxing in 2025 is undoubtedly the fact that we didn’t get to see Lamont Roach and Gervonta Davis comeback from their controversial first fights.
Heavy underdog Roach forced “Tank” Davis to a draw in New York in March, but the second meeting didn’t come to fruition, with Davis opting to face Jake Paul in a now-canceled exhibition match.
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Roach detailed Monday’s rematch with Uncrown on “The Ariel Helwani Show.”
“If he doesn’t veer off course, things are going to happen,” Roach said. “He activates the right to rematch, which contractually binds us to one game and there shouldn’t be any incidents or fights in between… [Then] He did something that shouldn’t have happened – he got into a fight with Jake Paul. “
“We were supposed to fight in June,” Roach continued. “That’s when we signed the original contract [for]. We signed shortly after the game…we actually signed on the dotted line [and so did Davis]. …and then he needed more time.
“Then it got pushed back to August — that’s the one that was announced. And then the whole Jake Paul thing happened.”
Davis had a contractual right to a rematch, which he exercised shortly after the March fight. The game was heavily linked with an August 16 date, but an official announcement was never made. Davis stopped training at some point in June, and when he was arrested on July 11 on new domestic violence charges, a rematch was thought to be completely unlikely.
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Roach told The Uncrowned that when Davis triggers the rematch clause, it means the WBA lightweight champion cannot fight anyone other than Roach. However, Davis announced a boxing match with Paul in November, which, according to Roach, was inconsistent with Davis’ obligations to Roach under the agreement.
Since the rematch didn’t happen, Roach considered taking legal action against Davis — namely, arbitration. Roach said Premier Boxing Champions, the company that looks after Davis, offered Roach financial compensation if his second fight, now under the PBC banner, does not go ahead when he fights Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz for the WBC interim super lightweight title on Saturday in San Antonio, Texas.
“We know [the Davis rematch wouldn’t happen],” Roach said. “That’s what this fight with ‘Pitbull’ is about. We kind of thought, okay, after his emotions heat up, after that last fight – we don’t know what’s going to happen. We know what we’re dealing with. We knew we were facing an unknown, whether it was boxing-wise, business-wise, or his personal life. We don’t know what to expect.
“my dad [and] my manager [Roberto Diaz] Make sure he has it written into his contract that no matter what, even if we don’t fight Gervonta Davis, we’re going to fight this year because we don’t know what’s going to happen with him. Once we started hearing Jake Paul speak, we were like, “Okay, let’s do it.” Next thing you know, he was actually fighting him. “
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Davis said in December 2024 that 2025 would be his last year in boxing because he became disillusioned with the sport. In theory, this could mean the controversial Roach fight would be Davis’ last fight.
“I believe him [that he’ll retire],” Roach said.
“He told everyone he didn’t really care about boxing. He told people he didn’t care about championships. He told people he was going to get his money, y’all [are] Won’t see him again. It looks like he’s doing that – that’s what I’m saying. He made me a believer. “
The rematch will be a highlight due to the controversy behind the first game. Many believe Roach’s failure to defeat Davis was due in large part to a controversial call made by referee Steve Willis in the ninth round.
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Davis took a knee in the first minute of that minute, seconds after being hit by a left hand. He later said he did so to go back to his corner and wipe his eyes because the grease from his braids bothered him. The lightweight champion didn’t give Willis any warning that he was going to do this, but still didn’t get a knockout. Willis started counting, but inexplicably stopped.
There are no breaks in boxing, so Davis’ impromptu kneeling should count as a knockout. Roach told The Untitled that the New York State Athletic Commission also confirmed to him that it should have been a knockout, but it declined to overturn the decision because the commission could not explain how Davis would have performed the rest of the fight if he had known he was on the wrong end of the 10-8 round.
“The ninth round is [bulls***]. that is [bulls***]” Roach reflects. “Several times after I watched it, I would get angry about it. It’s just – some people get special treatment. We talk about this over and over again. The referee sees it – it’s a knockout, starts counting, and then somehow, someway, you have him say something to you to convince you, ‘Well, you can’t do that anymore, because if you do, it’ll look like a knockdown.’ verbally [he said it] It also came out of his mouth. It gets picked up by the microphone and everything. You stop the count and tell him it looks like a knockout? It’s crazy.
“That’s [a robbery in broad daylight]but a lot of people know this, and that’s the important part. …you can’t [take that to the bank, though]. Even later, when we go away and look in the history books, it will still be marked as a draw.
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“It’s frustrating, but you can’t cry over spilled milk. You have to move on.”
Roach will hope to put all that behind him now as he moves up to another level in his second consecutive pay-per-view headliner on Saturday, challenging Cruz for the interim WBC belt.
