Lamont Roach Jnr delivered a performance oozing with confidence in his near upset of Gervonta “Tank” Davis last Saturday night, and as he awaits justice from their controversial majority draw, he again feels things will fall in his favor. In an exclusive conversation with BoxingScene on Thursday, Roach, 25-1-2 (10 KOs), said he both expects Davis to embrace the option for a rematch in their contract while also believing the New York State Athletic Commission will provide a fair response to the events that transpired in the ninth round at Barclays Center. “I hope a rematch happens sooner rather than later. Everybody’s still talking about the fight, and it’s five days later,” Roach said. “It’s been a huge spectacle, a topic of discussion – the review by the commission and
Author Archives: Lance Pugmire
Mar
Martin Bakole’s instant acceptance of a Saudi Arabia replacement-bout junket that led to him getting knocked out has not passed without appreciation. Bakole has been invited back to Riyadh, taking his originally planned May 2 heavyweight showdown against Efe Ajagba at New York’s Times Square to the Middle East, with the pair now set to do battle on the undercard of the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-William Scull undercard May 3, an official involved in the deal confirmed to BoxingScene on Tuesday. On the heels of his destructive August 3 knockout of then-unbeaten young contender Jared Anderson in Los Angeles, Bakole, 21-2 (16 KOs), was sought as a last-minute replacement for ailing IBF heavyweight Daniel Dubois, who withdrew from his planned February 22 title defense against former WBA titleholder Joseph Parker, 36-3
NEW YORK – Gervonta “Tank” Davis has observed the exodus of pound-for-pound peers to Saudi Arabia and firmly stood his ground in the U.S. Davis watched as rival and four-division champion Terence Crawford became the first to headline an American card in August. He saw the sport’s most popular fighter, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, shrug off Turki Alalshikh’s boast that a UFC bout he was backing in September would “bury” the Mexican star’s Las Vegas card, only to be in business with him five months later. And he looked on as David Benavidez boarded a flight to attend Saturday’s light heavyweight championship bout in Riyadh. On Saturday night in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Baltimore’s WBA lightweight titleholder Davis, 30-0 (28 KOs), is content producing the most lucrative live boxing gate in the