Lamont Roach is escalating matters after his disputed majority draw with Gervonta "Tank" Davis last Saturday at Barclays Center. Roach’s attorney, Greg Smith, has formally asked the New York State Athletic Commission to overturn the result and grant Roach the WBA lightweight title. The dispute hinges on that infamous ninth round, where Davis took a knee yet wasn’t penalized – nor did referee Steve Willis count it as a knockdown or rule Tank disqualified for walking to his corner without an official timeout.
Roach's camp contends that Davis (who claimed hair grease in his eyes) effectively forfeited the fight when he retreated to his corner, prompting calls for either a knockout in Roach’s favor, a disqualification of Davis, or at least an adjusted score reflecting a knockdown. Indeed, if the ninth round had been scored 10-8 for Roach, judges’ cards suggest Roach would have walked away with a razor-thin decision win – and with it, the WBA lightweight belt.
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Naturally, the stakes are huge: securing the WBA title would line Roach up for lucrative unification bouts, and he’d likely enter negotiations with much more leverage if Davis wants a rematch. For now, the commission says they’re reviewing the incident.
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