Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Lamont Roach Jr. squared off in the main event on Saturday, March 1 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The contest featured the defending WBA lightweight champion from Baltimore, MD, against the current WBA super featherweight champion from Washington, D.C.
The scheduled 12-round bout went the full distance, produced fireworks, but ended with no winner. The scores were 115-113, 114-114, and 114-114, resulting in a majority draw. One judge scored the fight in favor of Davis.
In the ninth round, Davis took a knee and walked to his corner to have his eyes wiped, which caused confusion for everyone, including the referee, but it wasn’t considered a knockdown. At the post-fight press conference, Roach said, “I thought I should’ve won it even with it being counted as a knockdown.” The pair is now expected to battle it out in a rematch.
As a result, three-weight champion Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) retained his WBA lightweight title in his sixth defense. The 30-year-old southpaw, who picked up his first draw, said he wanted to face Roach again.
Current WBA super featherweight titleholder Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) didn’t succeed in becoming a two-weight champion. Post-fight, the Upper Marlboro, Maryland-based 29-year-old said he thought he did enough to win and was also looking to run it back.