Gervonta Davis officially receives a new date for his next fight

On By Littum

Gervonta “Tank” Davis fans will have to wait a little longer for the WBA lightweight champion’s return to the ring. On Friday, November 29, Premier Boxing Champions released information indicating that Davis would defend his title against Lamont Roach Jr. on March 1 in a pay-per-view card on Prime. The event will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Roach has been the opponent for several months, but the date has been moved from January to March, and the location from Houston to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Tank is no stranger to the Barclays Center. The undefeated pound-for-pound contender has scored three explosive stoppage victories at the venue. Davis has become one of boxing’s biggest stars with a growing fan base and reputation as one of the sport’s hardest hitters. His exploits in Brooklyn have played a role in his rise.

In January 2017, Davis knocked out Jose Pedraza at Barclays to win the IBF Super Featherweight title.

In April 2018, Tank destroyed Jesus Cuellar in four rounds in Brooklyn. On Tank’s last visit to Barclays in May 2022, he found himself in a firefight with Rolando Romero.

Tank earned the sixth-round KO victory, but he was trailing on a scorecard at the time of the stoppage.

Regardless of the ranking, Davis will be heavily favored over Roach, who is a featherweight champion and is moving up in weight to face one of the most devastating punchers in the sport.

I spoke to Roach last month when the fight looked to be a lot closer than it is now, and he sounded prepared for a fight that almost no one is giving him a chance to win.

“I know I’m the best,” Roach said when I asked him what made him confident to take on the challenge of battling Tank. “I’m not a little 130-pounder for all those people who don’t know. Plus, Tank’s not a big guy. I’m probably bigger than him in terms of stature; height and body mass. It’s not really that much of a difference. I’ll be more comfortable at 135 pounds. That’s five pounds less to lose. That’s definitely one of the biggest factors.”

The undercard for the fight will be interesting. It has yet to be announced, but with the Riyadh Season planning a massive card on February 22nd, the PBC might welcome in with a big show themselves.

The exciting Errol Spence vs. Sebastian Fundora match appears to be in limbo as Spence recently posted on X that he hasn’t spoken to anyone in months. Spence may be trolling fans, but if things were put on hold with the PBC, the change of date and location of the tank fight could have something to do with the switch.

It’s amazing how two relative outsiders, Turki Alalshikh and Jake Paul, have shot their way into boxing, disrupting the flow of things and now seemingly influencing the movements of the decision makers that were present before them.