Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis’ choice of super featherweight Lamont Roach Jr. as his opponent for December 14 does not bother the promoter Eddie Hearn. I feel that Tank (30-0, 28 KOs) had no other options for his fight in December because the big names were not available.
None Available
Hearn says these fighters were not options for the WBA Tank lightweight champion for one reason or another:
– Shakur Stevenson: Injured
– Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz: Beaten recently
– Ryan Garcia: Suspend
– Devin Haney: Beaten
– Vasily Lomachenko: chose to stay out for the rest of 2024
The other fighters that Tank Davis could have fought, Edin De Los Santos, Andy Cruz, Keyshawn Davis and Raymond Muratalla, are no better known than Lamont Roach. Even if Tank Davis had picked one of them, the casual boxer wouldn’t know who they are, and there wouldn’t have been an increase in PPV buys over his Roach pick.
“I think the reaction online is a little unfair. Everybody hates wrestling, but Lamont Roach is a good fighter. The problem is nobody knows who he is, and with Tank’s position in the sport, people want him in big fights, and it’s not a big fight,” said Eddie Hearn to Fight Hub TVTalking about Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr. on December 14.
The tank was protected
It’s not just that no one knows who Roach is that caused the backlash. The real problem is hardcore boxing fans who know who Roach is, and are not interested in seeing Tank Davis fight. Casual probably doesn’t matter because they don’t know who any of the fighters Tank Davis has fought in the past, except Ryan Garcia.
Tank’s promoters didn’t go out of their way to match the guys the fans heard about because they treated him like a precious commodity that needed to be guarded. This kept him humming and winning, but it also lowered his career earnings. He would have earned a lot more money if he beat the well-known opposition during the last 11 years.
“If you know your boxing, you know he’s a good fight, but he’s a super featherweight; he’s a lot smaller than Tank,” Hearn said. “I don’t think it’s a bad fight, but it went down terribly because nobody knows who Lamont Roach is. But what were the options for Tank, really? He doesn’t want to fight Shakur, and Shakur got hurt.”
Tank vs. Roach is a good fight along the same lines as Tank’s last match against Frank Martin. It was a mismatch, and this will be too. The only difference is that Roach has no power and will have nothing to keep Tank off. He’s like the poor man’s version of Shakur Stevenson. That might be one of the reasons Tank chose Roach. It will help him prepare for Shakur.
“Haney is not close to the fight. The Ryan Garcia rematch is not here. Pitbull Cruz was beaten, and that was certainly the fight they were going to make. Valenzuela is not ready. So, all in all, I get it, but it’s not going to do big numbers because it’s not a fight that people know is actually a pretty good fight,” Hearn said about the Tank vs. Roach matchup.
