Gervonta Davis insists Lamont Roach is in for a “rude awakening” when they clash in Brooklyn on Saturday.
Davis defends his WBA lightweight world title against his old amateur rival Roach at Barclays Center, live on Amazon Prime pay-per-view.
‘Tank’ knocked out Frank Martin in his last fight in June and believes his rival will be given a harsh reality check when they meet.
“He’s in for a rude awakening for sure,” Davis said at Wednesday’s media workout.
“He’s done what he had to do, trying to psyche himself up for the fight.
“But come March 1st, it’s all about skill vs skill and who has the better skill that night is going to be the victorious person.
“[Fans can expect] just fireworks.
“Two kids that are coming together to put on a great performance.
“I know I trained hard for this camp.
“You have someone that’s sharp, fast, explosive and Lamont is sharp himself and he’s explosive.
“So it’s just going to be a banger on Saturday night and the fans win that night.”
Roach, who retained his WBA featherweight world title with an eighth round stoppage over Feargal McCrory in June, heads into his clash with Davis as at least an 8-1 underdog to pull off what would be a significant upset.
Should he hand the Baltimore his first professional defeat, the 29-year-old, who is moving up in weight, will be given five days to inform the WBA of which the two titles he will keep and defend.
Davis, who has not fought more than twice in one year since 2019, says he is keen to fight three times in 2025, having previously claimed that it would be his last year as a professional.
Victory for the 30-year-old would keep him on the path to much-desired unification bouts against WBC champion, Shakur Stevenson, IBF titlist, Vasiliy Lomanchenko and recently-crowned, WBO champion, Keyshawn Davis.
“[I want to] stay in the ring more this year for sure,” he added.
“Hopefully I’ve got three fights this year.
“But I’m looking froward to Lamont Roach come March 1st and we’ll figure it out after that.”
