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On December 23rd, undefeated WBA World Lightweight Champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis released a post on social media stating that his scheduled title defense against WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Lamont Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs) has been canceled ).
In early October, Gervonta Davis originally announced that a world title fight between him and Lamont Roach would take place on December 14th at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Weeks later, another announcement was made regarding the postponement of the Tank vs. Roach clash.
No one gave an official reason for the postponement, but some speculated that the delay was due to problems with the venue. In late November, the new date and location of the fight was announced to the public, as March 1, 2025 became the new date and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, the new location.
The delay seemed to favor the fans of this fight due to the change of venue. Baltimore and Washington DC are rival cities separated by about 40 miles. Due to the fact that Gervonta Davis is from Baltimore, Maryland and Lamont Roach is a Washington native, it made perfect sense to move the fight to the Barclays Center.
Everything seemed set and ready to go until Gervonta Davis made the decision to release a brief but unexpected public statement via social media saying, “The fight is a freaking cancellation…”
After seeing the post, fight fans were shocked and confused. As fans scrambled for answers, Davis chose not to give any details as he apparently logged off of social media. Fans reached out to challenger Lamont Roach about getting answers, and Roach responded in a post stating:
“What the hell do you keep asking me?” he said that it’s not me. I’m locked, shit ain’t changed. March 1 Brooklyn #NEW.”
Although it was never properly resolved, the initial delay was likely due to issues with the Toyota Center reservation. This recent alleged cancellation is definitely not a venue issue as the Barclays Center has the Tank vs. Roach fight listed in the events calendar on their website.
If the alleged cancellation has nothing to do with the venue, could it be a financial issue? Is Gervonta Davis not happy with the guaranteed money offered by the PBC? For the past few years, boxing insiders have been making claims that the PBC is running out of money, and there may be some truth to that claim.
After a very successful launch in March 2015, PBC has had great success, but over the past few years, PBC has shown a lack of activity. The total number of shows produced by the PBC annually is in steady decline.
In addition to potential financial problems, PBC also shows a lack of communication skills. Gervonta “Tank” Davis is probably the biggest draw on the PBC roster. Davis claims his upcoming fight has been cancelled, then gives no follow-up after the claim.
Challenger Lamont Roach released a statement saying he had not heard the fight was canceled as he plans to continue training. The PBC continues to leave fans in limbo as they neglect to provide any sort of clarity regarding the status of the March 1 world title fight.
So… is the Tank vs. Roach fight on or off? When you look at this fight and put it into perspective, this is a fight for the casual boxing fan. Casuals are sold on the Baltimore vs. DC narrative. Die-hard boxing fans could care less about the geographical narrative as they view Tank vs. Roach as an irresistible matchup.
Gervonta Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) did try to make a more attractive fight against Vassily Lomachenko, but with the war in Ukraine breaking out and his loss to Devin Haney, Lomachenko doesn’t seem to have the same passion for the sport of boxing, as it looks like he may be thinking about pension.
Currently, neither Al Haimon nor any of his PBC associates have released any official information about the Tank vs. Roach fight. To support events like this, fight fans have to make financial sacrifices and organize things in their personal lives to be able to travel and support sporting events like boxing.
That being said, it’s pretty funny how so much time has passed and no one from the PBC thought it might be a good idea to release a public statement on the status of the fight. Have you ever heard claims that an NFL or NBA game is canceled and no one officially addresses the issue?
If the fight does happen, boxing fans will be watching because they are longtime fans of the sport. If the fight doesn’t happen, casuals will be disappointed, but hardcore fans will just shrug it off and look forward to Gervonta Davis giving them the match they’ve been looking for.
