Could Lamont Roach Jr. have won the bout against Gervonta Davis if Tank ‘taking the knee’ was considered to be a knockdown by the referee? The public says yes! And as such, since the weekend’s controversial fight, there has been a clamoring to see the two duke it out again, this time with a better referee. Interestingly, Roach Jr. claims he’s already made strides in that regard.
Roach Jr., who made a lightweight move over the weekend, forced the Maryland native, Davis, to go the distance for the first time in five fights in the 12-round spectacle.
Outstriking the 30-0 boxer, Davis for the majority of the pairing, which included a stunning late display, Roach Jr. expected to take the WBA lightweight title. However, despite the fireworks, he only earned himself a majority decision draw in New York City.
Since then, both boxers have been on social media, with a majority of fans and analysts believing that if the takedown had been awarded, there would be a newly crowned champion starting this week. Naturally, annoyed by these remarks, Davis took to Twitter and asserted he was pushing for a rematch.
Interestingly, Roach Jr. jumped in to claim that Davis was tripping since they had already put ink on the dotted lines!
Fuck you mean pushing nigga my contract already signed and set for the immediate rematch cuz you put that in there just incase you lost. Only reason we don’t fight is cuz u scared https://t.co/59L1IoXA9l
— Lamont Roach Jr (@OneOf1x) March 3, 2025
A Roach Jr. vs Davis rematch sounds like a great idea, to be fair, for fans and the sport in general, especially since the curious case of Davis taking a knee in the 9th round doesn’t seem like a debate that’s going to see a resolution outside the ring.
Davis blames hair grease for ninth round knee
While the consensus dictates that Davis got really lucky with that on, ‘Tank’ himself had a bizarre explanation for his action. Blaming his decision to take a knee on the use of a hair product. Davis claimed his eye was “burning” from the grease he used.
“I just got my hair done two days ago and she put grease in my sh*t,” Davis said post-fight.
“When you are sweating and sh*t like that, the grease came into my face and it burnt my eyes. Yo, why you all booing like I’m talking bullsh*t? Look at my hair, I just got my sh*t done.“, he had said, in a desperate attempt to understand the crowd’s reaction.
However, Roach Jr. believes Davis should have been hit with a knockdown regardless, labelling his hair-grease excuse as dubious.
It should have been a knockdown. If that was a knockdown, I win the fight.”“Roach Jr. said post-event.
“He’s saying grease got in his eye. But if he takes a knee and the ref starts counting, it should be a knockdown,” the challenger further explained.
