Davis and Roach Fight ends in the majority of the tie after controversial knockdown video

GERVONTA “Tank” Davis' habit to start slowly, almost cost him on Saturday evening.

Davis' defense of his WBA Lightweight Championship against Lamont Roach Jr. ended with a majority in front of a stunned sold out of 19,250 in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Davis kept his title in a struggle that he would like to forget, News.AZ informed about ESPN.

Two judges scored 114-114, while a third judge achieved 115-113 in favor of Davis.

“Lamont is a great fighter,” said Davis after the fight. “He got the skills, as I already said, he got racketeer. It was a lesson. Hopefully we can return it.”

In a strange scene that could have turned the leaf of the fight, Davis inexplicably took a knee in the ninth round after he was touched by a thrust, but referee Steve Wilkes decided not to achieve a knockdown for Roach. Davis suggested that the reason for the knee was that he had something in his eyes. The fight resumed without punishment, but the Knockdown could have swing the pendulum in favor of Roach.

“I just done my hair two days ago and she put fat in my hair,” said Davis. “When I sweated and things like that, my eyes burned it.”

Roach did not agree with Davis' assessment of the situation. However, he made it clear that the rules are the rules and he should have received a knockdown.

“If you take a knee and the referee starts, it should be a knockdown,” said Roach. “If that's a knockdown, I will win the fight. I'm not on this knockdown to win. I just thought I pulled it out.”

Davis (30-0-1, 28 Kos) entered the battle as a massive betting favorite at ESPN and was supposed to expect many to collect his 29th career-knockout by stopping Roach, who made his easy debut. Behind a Pro-Davis quantity, “tank” could not give the fans the highlight reel finish that they expected from the natives in Baltimore.

Instead, Roach (25-1-2) stood in the fire line, decreased what the hard-beating Davis had to offer, and reacted with shots that not only stunned Davis, but also those present.

The notoriously patient Davis had a slow start in the early rounds when he was waiting for Roach to make a mistake on which he could benefit. But Roach refused to give the window to Davis and pressed the action. Davis smiled and spoke to Roach at the beginning of the fight, but had to get serious when he realized that his opponent would not be under the light lights.

The 29 -year -old Roach Jr. had faced Davis in the amateurs and was too short. Her career went into different directions than they became professional. Davis was one of the biggest stars of Boxing and Roach became known as a solid fighter who lost his only other opportunity to defeat Jamel Herring for the WBO Super Feather weight in 2019.

Davis' ascent to fame was interrupted in 2023 by his Knockout victory against Ryan Garcia, where he was entitled to the face of the box. He almost made the title disappear in an overwhelming performance. Davis may have put a false feeling of trust in the fight, but Roach was well prepared for everything that “tank” had to offer, including his renowned fighting power.

In the middle rounds, Davis' smile dissolved and he realized that the Knockout he was expecting would not be easy. The champion began to open his hands, but Roach held his floor and caught the champion with counters and combinations. Davis worked almost exclusively into the body and hit when Roach stayed on the front foot and pushed forward. Roach clever unimpressed a counter when Davis' attack was. In round 8, Roach Davis fascinated with a right counter. Although Davis was never in a real danger, the counter -puching signaled that it could not be incorporated.

“I have the feeling that I broke him down in the course of the rounds, but he always came, so I didn't want to make mistakes,” said Davis. “I made it careful.”

The 30 -year -old Davis, 30, noticed that the fight could slip away and pushed the campaign in the championship rounds. Although he landed a few big gunfire, he never came almost Roach. However, the activity gave him the last two rounds of all three scorecards to save the draw and leave New York with the title.

Davis landed 103 out of 279 strokes in an extremely economic matter, while Roach was more active and landed 112 out of 400 strokes.

“I'm just a little disappointed with the decision,” said Roach. “I thought I pulled it out, but that's what two experienced fighters do. I definitely thought I would have won, but we could attribute it. … Although I didn't win tonight, I thought I had done it, but it's a victory for me in my book. We are not satisfied with it. We need a real 'W.'.

News.az