American WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis has responded to the head of the GEA (General Entertainment Authority), Turki Al-Sheikh, who had recently expressed interest in staging a fight between Davis and Devin Haney. The Baltimore-born boxer seemed affronted, even agitated, at the Saudi’s excitement at seeing the two Americans in the ring in Saudi Arabia, though it is currently unknown as to why.
As of the past year, the GEA has shown their ability to stage the biggest fights following the December 23rd ‘Day of Reckoning’ event which saw a plethora of different promotions and fighters compete on the same card. This event is expected to be surpassed by the upcoming February 17 card set to be headlined by heavyweight undisputed champions Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KO’s) and Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KO’s).
Based on the GEA’s recent array of successful events, there is every bit the potential of a fight between Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KO’s) and Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KO’s) occurring. The two Americans currently appear to be in a rivalry of sorts that has seen Haney run away with the lead following his ascent to become the undisputed lightweight champion whereas Davis only held the WBA ‘regular’ title; a secondary ‘world’ title that should not be viewed as a legitimate world title.
While Davis is now acknowledged as the sole WBA world champion at 135 lbs and Haney has since moved on to fight―and claim a world title―at super lightweight, he enjoys substantial name recognition within the United States and has been refferred to as the ‘face of boxing’ since his April 22nd victory over Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s).
The two Americans share a familiar background having both associated with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in some capacity. While Davis was promoted by Mayweather for virtually the majority of his career, Haney enjoyed his development within the Mayweather Gym and was in many ways a protégé of Mayweather before he opted to enter the professional ranks of boxing without being promoted by Mayweather.
Gervonta Davis, one of the most recognizable boxers in the United States for at least the past half decade, did not seem very much interested at the prospect of fighting Haney in Saudi Arabia, or at all, judging by the Twitter post he left off the back of Turki Al-Sheikh’s interview on DAZN.
“They made me mad. If they want me, they gotta send me something to my front door… like two Ferrari’s or something.” Davis expressed to another Twitter user recently.
To date, it is unknown why exactly Davis was ‘mad’ or angry at the Saudi’s but speculatively this might have to do with his unwillingness to fight Devin Haney. Last year, Davis revealed himself that Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn―who had worked with Haney for his fight with former WBC 140 lbs champion Regis Prograis (29-2, 24 KO’s)―seemed interested in getting both Davis and Haney into the ring. However, Davis refused Hearn’s offer without so much as attempting to negotiate.
In classic Davis fashion, the post was later deleted; now leaving only questions as to whether his desire to not fight Haney has shifted. The Baltimore-born clearly does not appear to have the desire to face Haney and offered no suitable explanations as to why he was agitated at Turki Al-Sheikh’s interest to see him fight in Saudi Arabia against the current WBC super lightweight champion.
