Gervonta Davis retained his WBA lightweight world title, but was held to a stunning majority decision draw by Lamont Roach in Brooklyn on Saturday.
Davis was fortunate to have walked away without a first defeat after momentarily taking a knee in the ninth round, but referee Steve Willis did not award Roach a knockdown, a moment which proved pivotal, with two judges scoring it 114-114 apiece and another at 115-113 in favour of ‘Tank’, to declare the contest a stalemate.
Roach, the reigning WBA super featherweight world champion, who had fought Davis in the amateurs was a sizeable underdog heading into the bout, but seemed to bank the opening two rounds, with ‘Tank’, a notoriously slow starter, implementing a cautious approach.
The 30-year-old did find his rhythm by the third round, connecting to his rival’s body.
Davis, who stopped Frank Martin in the eighth round last June, had built up a lead by the halfway mark having upped his workrate and punch accuracy, although Roach was remaining competitive throughout the rounds, willing to trade in the pocket despite the combinations which were landing to head and body.
‘The Reaper’ caught the Baltimore native’s attention with a hard right hand in the seventh and stumbled him back momentarily in the eight round with another powerful right hand.
Roach was prepared to continue to trade with ‘Tank’ and after shipping another right in the ninth, Davis voluntarily took a knee, ran towards his corner and had his head wiped with a towel by his coach Calvin Ford.
Referee Steve Willis did not award Roach with a knockdown and Davis took the round, landing some vicious combinations, although Roach’s chin stood strong.
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The Washington man finished the fight strongly, making his rival miss and making him pay with accurate counters, and the bout headed to the scorecards.
Judge Eric Marlinski awarded the fight 115-113 to Davis, but was overruled by two scores of 114-114 by Glenn Feldman and Steve Weisfeld respectively, to make it a majority draw.
Davis admitted he’d be open to a rematch.
“I made it competitive,” he said post-fight.
Lamont Roach proved the world wrong. Take a bow 👏👏#TankRoach pic.twitter.com/qG17ESBHFW
— Pro Boxing Fans (@ProBoxingFans) March 2, 2025
“But for sure, Lamont is a great fighter.
“He’s got the skills, he’s got punching power.
“Shout out to Lamont Roach and his whole team.
“Hopefully we can run it back for sure. Let’s have a rematch back in New York.”
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Roach cut a naturally dejected figure in the aftermath, but concurred with ‘Tank’ that he’d be willing to have a rematch.
“I’m just a little disappointed in this decision,” the 29-year-old explained post-fight.
“I definitely thought I won, but we can run it back.
“Gervonta is a great fighter.”
Russell dethrones Valenzuela to claim WBA crown
Gary Antuanne Russell put on a superb display to rip away the WBA super lightweight world title from Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela.
Russell (18-1, 17 KOs) dominated from the opening round, with his superior speed, skill and volume overwhelming Valenzuela (14-3, 9 KOs) throughout.
The 28-year-old southpaw ran out a clear winner with two scores of 119-109 and one at 120-108 securing him his first world title.
Valenzuela lost his title in his first defence, having only won the belt in August when he beat Isaac Cruz.
Russell could pursue a rematch and unification clash with WBC champion, Alberto Puello, who beat him by split decision last June and was also successful on the card.
Puello outpoints Martin to retain WBC title
Alberto Puello made a successful first defence of his WBC super lightweight world title, taking a split decision win over Sandor Martin.
Puello (24-0, 10 KOs) was elevated from interim titlist to full champion in June and it was a closely-fought battle with Martin (42-4, 15 KOs)
The Dominican prevailed by scores of 115-113 and 116-112, with one judge ruling it 115-113 in favour of Martin.
Tellez sees off Williams
Yoenis Tellez opened the pay-per-view portion of the card, overcoming former world champion, Julian Williams (29-5-1, 17 KOs) by unanimous decision.
Tellez (10-0, 7 KOs) dominated the contest and this was reflected by scorecards of 119-109, 117-111 and 118-110.
.@elbandolero_YT lands a beautiful uppercut in RD3 that sends JRock’s head snapping back. #TellezWilliams#TankRoach | LIVE NOW on PBC PPV on @PrimeVideo: https://t.co/qlhPUvN3PD pic.twitter.com/bKDZtkg490
— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) March 2, 2025
Remaining Undercard
Former unified super welterweight champion, Jarrett Hurd announced his retirement in the ring after losing by split decision to Johan Gonzalez (36-4, 36 KOs).
Elsewhere, Italian super welterweight, Cristian Cangelosi (10-0, 5 KOs) remained unbeaten with a unanimous decision victory over Jarrod Tennant (9-4, 4 KOs) and Dwyke Flemmings Jr (10-0, 9 KOs) also took a points win in his 154lb meeting with Florent Davis (10-3, 5 KOs).
Welterweight prospect, David Whitmire (9-0, 6 KOs) remained perfect, with the 19-year-old outpointing Angel Munoz (7-1, 5 KOs).
Super lightweight prospect, Deric Davis (6-0, 6 KOs) scored his sixth straight stoppage win, dropping Jamal Johnson (2-1, 1 KO) twice before securing a first round victory.
