Boxing superstar Gervonta “Tank” Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) is scheduled to return to the ring as he defends his WBA world lightweight title against WBA world super featherweight champion Lamont Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs ‘er) on Saturday evening 1 March 2025.
This PBC champion vs champion event is set to take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime pay-per-view. Davis plans to have another successful title defense and remain undefeated, while his opponent, Lamont Roach, will look to pull off a massive upset.
Gervonta Davis and Lamont Roach have a bit of history as they faced each other twice in the amateurs. Both matches were competitive, but ultimately Davis was victorious on both occasions. The Davis vs Roach rivalry will continue at the pro level, but the fight will not be well received by all boxing fans.
At one end of the spectrum you have the casuals who are completely sold on this matchup. They saw the trash talk at the press conference and now they want to watch the game. In addition to Gervonta “Tank” Davis’ trademark, another driver that makes this fight marketable to the casual is geography.
Separated by approximately 40 miles, Baltimore and Washington DC are rivals, but the rivalry between the two cities is not based on sports. The rivalry is about the disagreements and cultural differences of the two individual cities. But when sports come into play, both cities support their respective teams.
That being said, it just so happens that Gervonta Davis is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and Lamont Roach was born in Washington DC. The casual fans are looking forward to this match on March 1, while the other group of fans are not excited. with the Tank vs Roach clash.
On the other side of the spectrum we have hardcore fans. Hardcore fans are more knowledgeable about the intricacies of the sport of boxing and they always want to see the best possible matchups.
Back in the 1980s, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns were dubbed ‘The Four Kings’. All four boxers experienced individual success and they all faced each other inside the squared circle.
In 2021, the media labeled Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia, Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney as the new version of The Four Kings. All four boxers have experienced individual success, but they have not faced each other in the ring. Ryan Garcia is the only boxer to face multiple rivals as he has fought both Davis and Haney.
In addition to the other Kings, undefeated WBC lightweight world champion Shakur Stevenson is another high-profile fighter that hardcore fans want Davis to fight inside the ring. Lamont Roach is a good fighter, but most hardcore fans don’t care about this fight because they know what’s going to happen.
On March 1, Roach will come out and win the early rounds until Davis downloads the data. When Davis gets the timing down, he will continue to press forward and overwhelm his opponent with hard, accurate shots. As the punishment accumulates, Davis gets a stoppage between rounds 6-10.
The previous scenario is what most hardcore fans expect to happen in this match. What they want is for Davis to run and fight the best opponents available. When they look at Lamont Roach, they see a boxer who is good, but they feel he is not the best option available.
Despite being unsatisfied, hardcore fans still want to see the Tank vs Roach match. On March 1, 2025, it’s Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach, it’s Baltimore vs. DC. This fight will be an epic event more suited to the casual fans, but hopefully during the year 2025, Gervonta Davis will give hardcore fans the high profile fights they have been waiting for.