Roach: ‘I’m a little disappointed in the decision’

In a controversial decision, WBA 135-pound champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) retained his title with a 12-round majority draw against WBA 130-pound champion Lamont “The Reaper” Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) in the main event on Saturday night from a sold-out(19.250) Barclays Center in Brooklyn(PBC PPV/ Prime Video).

One judge scored the fight 115-113 for Davis, while the other two judges turned in identical 114-114 scorecards.

Roach did what many fighters could not do against Davis. He stood up to his power, was durable, backed Davis up at times, and made it through all 12 rounds.

At times, in this fight, you thought Davis, who fought Roach in the amateurs, would eventually catch his opponent, but the Washington, D.C. native had a great game plan and was very smart throughout.

The 29-year-old Roach was the more active fighter, which is not surprising when fighting the 30-year-old Davis. According to CompuBox, Roach(112/400) outlanded and threw more punches than Davis(103/279), but the Baltimore native was more accurate.

In Rounds 9-12, Roach either outlanded or equaled the amount of punches Davis landed, including the final round, where Roach had the edge(16-9).

The most interesting and controversial moment of the fight came in Round 9 when Roach landed a couple of jabs on Davis. Out of nowhere, “Tank” took a knee, ran to his corner, and asked his corner to wipe his face. Referee Steve Willis did not rule a knockdown, which he should have done, and if he had ruled it a knockdown, Roach would have gotten the upset.

After the fight, Davis explained what happened in Round 9 and why he took a knee.

“I just got my hair done two days ago, and she put grease in my sh**,” Davis said. “So, the grease, when you sweat, it was coming into my face.” 

Roach added on the controversy: “It should have been a knockdown. If that was knockdown, I win the fight. He’s saying grease got in his eye, but if he takes a knee and the ref starts counting, it should be a knockdown. It is what it is.”

Despite being outlanded in Rounds 10 and 12, Davis felt he did enough to win those rounds and the fight.

“I think I pulled it out in the last three rounds for sure,” Davis said. “I was catching him with some clean shots. I feel I was breaking him down as the rounds were going on, but he kept coming so I didn’t want to make mistakes and kept it cautious.”

Roach believes he did enough to win the fight.

“I’m a little disappointed in the decision,” Roach said. “I thought I pulled it out. That’s what two skilled fighters do, go in there and show off their crafts. I definitely thought I won, but we can run it back.”

Following the fight, Davis said he wanted a rematch, but at the post-fight press conference, Davis said his next fight won’t be against Roach, so we’ll see how that shakes out.