American multi-division world champion Gervonta Davis may retire following the year of 2025 after his appearance at the first press conference for his upcoming March 1, 2025, fight against Lamont Roach Jr. In subsequent interviews held after the presser Davis would hint at possible mental fatigue culminating in his possible exit following next year.
WBA lightweight (135 lbs) champion Gervonta Davis (30-0, 28 KO’s) is largely considered the most popular fighter in America, courtesy of a highlight-filled resume of knockouts or stoppages―and a slew of controversies outside of the ring. At the same time, Davis has endured a lot of criticism for the lack of top-rated fighters he could have fought; with his upcoming opponent in WBA super featherweight (130 lbs) champion Lamont Roach Jr. (25-1-1, 10 KO’s) further driving questions as to his willingness to engage against the best in his weight class.
During the first of two launch press conferences for the March 1st Davis-Roach, Gervonta Davis went on to cause a shock to reverberate through boxing as he revealed his intention to retire from the sport:
“After next year, I’m out of [the sport],” Davis said during the New York press conference held on December 3rd. “We’ve been in [boxing] so long that we are getting tired of it.
“Like we’ve been beating our bodies up so long, but it [is] situations like just now where he [Lamont Roach Jr.] talk that [sparks] the plug again.“
While Gervonta Davis appeared to cite fatigue from boxing for roughly two decades since the amateurs, he would later expand on his plans to retire but generally remain vague as he indicated he would leave the sport after this year.
“After this year I’m out,” Davis asserted to reporters following the NY presser. “This s*** is trash. Garbage.
“[It’s] just being fed up. That’s it. It’s not even boxing, just overall [it’s] everything. Time for me to like fall back.“
Davis also revealed he would prefer to fight three times in 2025 prior to making an exit. With his revelation Davis joins a list of young or prime-aged fighters that threatened to leave the sport with Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez all having professed retirement in the past year or so―though Stevenson and Lopez would both return to the ring within a year following their announcements while Haney appears set to make his in-ring return in 2025 after declaring himself to be retired earlier this year.
