On December 23, undefeated world lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis made a social media post stating that his scheduled title defense against WBA super featherweight champion Lamont Roach Jr. (25-1-1, 10 KOs) had been cancelled.
In early October, Gervonta Davis initially announced that a world title fight between him and Lamont Roach would take place on December 14 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Weeks later, another announcement was made regarding the postponement of Tank’s match against Roach.
No one gave an official reason for the delay, but some speculated that the postponement was due to venue issues. In late November, the new date and location for the fight were announced to the public, with March 1, 2025 becoming the new date, and Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York becoming the new location.
It seems that the postponement was for the benefit of fans of this fight due to the change of venue. Baltimore and Washington, D.C., are rival cities about 40 miles apart. Given the fact that Gervonta Davis is from Baltimore, Maryland, and Lamont Roach is a native of Washington, D.C., it made perfect sense to move the fight to the Barclays Center.
Everything seemed set and ready to go until Gervonta Davis made the decision to issue a brief, but unexpected, public statement via social media saying: “The Fight Is F**King Cancel…”
After seeing this post, fight fans were shocked and confused. While fans were trying to get answers, Davis chose not to provide any details because he had apparently logged off of social media. Fans turned to competitor Lamont Roach for answers, and Roach responded in a post by saying,
“The fuck you keep asking me about? He said that’s not me. I’m locked down and I haven’t changed. March 1st in Brooklyn #ANDNEW.”
Although the matter was not handled properly, the first postponement may have been due to an issue with the Toyota Center reservation. This latest alleged cancellation is certainly not an issue with the venue as Barclays Center has listed the Tank vs Roach fight in the calendar events on its website.
If the alleged cancellation has nothing to do with the venue, could it be an issue with finances? Is Gervonta Davis dissatisfied with the guaranteed funds provided to him by the General Budget Committee? For the past few years, boxing insiders have been claiming that the PBC is running out of money, and there may be some truth to that claim.
After a very successful launch in March 2015, the PBC has achieved excellent performance, but over the past few years, the PBC has shown a lack of activity. The total number of shows produced by the Radio and Television Commission annually is constantly declining.
In addition to potential financial problems, the PBC also shows a lack of communication skills. Gervonta “Tank” Davis is probably the biggest draw on the PBC roster. Davis claims that his upcoming fight was cancelled, and following that claim, he has not filed a follow-up.
Contender Lamont Roach released a statement saying he had not heard about the fight being canceled because he plans to continue his training. The PBC is setting out to leave fans in limbo as they neglect to provide any sort of clarity regarding the status of the world title bout on March 1.
So…is the fight between the tank and Roach continuing or on hold? When you look at this fight and put it into perspective, this is a fight for the average boxing fan. Casual clothing is sold in the Baltimore vs. DC story. Hardcore boxing fans couldn’t care less about the geographic narrative as they view Tank vs. Roach as a disappointing bout.
Gervonta Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) tried to put on a more attractive bout against Vasiliy Lomachenko, but since the outbreak of war in Ukraine and his loss to Devin Haney, Lomachenko doesn’t seem to have the same passion for the sport of boxing, as he appears to be considering retirement.
Currently, neither Al Haymon nor any of his partners at PBC have provided an official update on the Tank vs Roach matchup. In order to support such events, fight fans have to make financial sacrifices and organize things in their personal lives so that they can travel and support sporting events like boxing.
With that being said, it is somewhat ridiculous how all this time has passed, and no one from the PBC thought it might be a good idea to make a public statement about the state of the fight. Have you ever heard claims of an NFL or NBA game being canceled and no one officially addressed the issue?
If the fight happens, boxing fans will watch it as they are long-time supporters of the sport. If the fight doesn’t happen, exhibitors will be disappointed, but hardcore fans will look past it and look forward to Gervonta Davis giving them the match they’ve been asking for.
