Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Lamont Roach is a potential fight for December 21st on PBC on Prime Video PPV at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC
It’s still too early to know the pay-per-view price of the event or who will be on the undercard, but $74.95 would be the likely number. At that price, Tank-Roach will be lucky if it brings in 200,000 buys, but Tank management will likely be happy with that low figure.
That’s how Tank Davis’ last event on June 15 sold out on PBC on Prime Video PPV. Tank defended against Frank Martin at that event, with David Benavidez fighting on the undercard.
Benavidez is also rumored to be fighting on the Tank Davis undercard for this event, but that has yet to be confirmed. If PBC has the price at the same $74.95, they would need a strong undercard with Benavidez.
Fans don’t want to pay that kind of money to see Tank Davis beat another soft opponent who has never beaten anyone of note. This fight should not be sanctioned yet, as Roach is not ranked in the top 15 at lightweight and jumps ahead of the main contenders to get a title shot.
He is rumored to be defending his interim WBA light heavyweight title against Jesse Hart. It’s not a great fight either, and it’s almost as bad as the Tank vs Roach fight. It will take some big fights on the undercard to charge that kind of money for a lackluster headliner.
Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs) fights at 130 to hold the WBA super featherweight title, and would move up to 135 to challenge Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) for his WBA secondary lightweight belt.
Dan Rafael reports X that the Tank-Roach fight is possible for December 21st on Prime Video PPV. He says it would be a “regional grudge match,” since Roach is from Washington, D.C., and Tank Davis is from Baltimore.
Years ago, Roach was seen as a future star in the sport. However, after a ten-round draw against Orlando Cruz in 2018 and a 12-round split decision loss against Jamel Herrington in 2019, Roach is no longer talked about much and is no longer seen as star material.
Although Roach holds the WBA super featherweight title, he captured it with a 12-round split decision over Hector Luis Garcia last year in November. Hector is a fighter Tank Davis eliminated in nine rounds in January 2023.
Tank Davis’ management seems to have a formula to match him: pick weak opposition and keep him away from dangerous fighters who might age or beat him.
There are plenty of lightweight contenders that Tank Davis’ management could choose to match him with, but I don’t know.