Last weekend’s show came paired with plenty of controversy as the title match between WBA lightweight (135 lbs) champion Gervonta Davis (30-0-1, 28 KO’s) and Lamont Roach Jr. (25-1-2, 10 KO’s) saw referee Steve Willis controversially rule out a knockdown suffered by Davis.
The title fight, which ended with both fighters drawing with each other by majority decision (MD), would have culminated in Roach winning the bout had the knockdown been counted. The judges scored the fight 115-113 [in favor of Davis] and 114-114 twice, but if the knockdown were to be acknowledged the scores would be altered accordingly, allowing Roach to win by either MD or unanimous decision (UD).
Notably, the knockdown was not the only controversial moment of the match. After Gervonta Davis willingly dropped on one knee seconds after a clean right hand from Lamont Roach before quickly getting up, the referee could be seen counting down the knockdown before abruptly stopping.
Moments after, controversy again followed as Davis’ corner could be seen interfering at ringside as they wiped his face during the match, despite the rules barring any coach or team member from.
This is made clear by the Unified Boxing Rules where rule 9 states that no fighter is allowed to be assisted by their corner following a knockdown during a round, which should have warranted either a points deduction for Davis or an outright disqualification loss.
Despite Davis maintaining that his eyes were suffering, his coach’s assistance in wiping of alleged hair gel or wax during the round was still against the rules. This situation could also have easily been resolved had the referee actually paused the match to allow Davis a moment to wipe his face, though this would be highly irregular and referee Steve Willis had notably not halted the proceedings to allow any assistnce.
According to boxing reporter Dan Rafael, Lamont Roach Jr. is now aiming to capitalize on his newfound popularity after his upset performance against Gervonta Davis, and Roach’s attorney has been confirmed to have reached out to the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) in a bid to overturn his draw into a win.
This Monday, the NYSAC already indicated they were reviewing the 9th round of the Davis-Roach bout but inadvertently drew controversy for themselves when they claimed that technical issues prevented the replay official to review the knockdown during the fight. Moreover, these claims by the state athletic commission were disputed by the production team of the broadcast that recorded the fight.
The NYSAC also has a proven track record of what appears to be either incompetence or negligence, as characterized by their handling of the case with Ryan Garcia who met a one-year suspension rather than at least a two-year ban ― despite several instances of deception and egregious behavior.
The NYSAC was further involved with American heavyweight Jarrell Miller’s (26-1-2, 22 KO’s) PED debacle when he tested positive for several banned substances in the lead-up to a fight against then-unified British champion Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KO’s). Despite the fight having been set to take place under the NYSAC’s jurisdiction, Miller was not suspended by the NYSAC due to not having had a license which led to their only action limited to refusing him a license. This meant that Miller was technically still allowed to fight anywhere but in New York.
The only repercussions Miller faced after the fact was a 6-month ban from the WBA and exclusion from their rankings. Notably, this ban did not bar Miller from fighting and merely meant the WBA would not sanction him to fight for any of their titles.
Based on the NYSAC’s past and earlier referenced controversy with supposed technical issues that prevented a in-fight replay of the knockdown from occurring, it is unlikely Roach’s pursuit of a victory will bear any fruit. However, if the NYSAC would overturn the MD draw of the March 1st bout, it would signal a new precedent for the sport where controversial results are finally addressed appropriately.
This is even more so important given just two weeks ago the bout between Carlos Adames and Hamzah Sheeraz featured a similar controversial draw despite Adames having clearly done enough to win on the scorecards. By overturning the draw between Gervonta Davis and Lamont Roach, NYSAC would make great strides in ensuring fairness and competiveness are prioritized and potentially urge other governing bodies to prove their consistency when it comes to helping the sport of boxing improve its integrity and reputation.
The NYSAC will reportedly make their decision at the end of this week.
