No Change: NYSAC Upholds Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach Draw Despite Contentious Round

The New York State Athletic Commission has reportedly chosen to keep the Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Lamont Roach a 12-round draw rather than overturning the results from their clash on March 1st at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The Draw Stands

Surprisingly, the fight won’t be changed to a victory for Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) because WBA lightweight champion Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) took a knee in the ninth round, a second after being hit. He then got up and walked back to his corner to have his trainer wipe hair grease out of his eyes without the referee giving a timeout.

Lance Pugmire reported on X that he was told that the NYSAC would not change the outcome of the Tank-Roach fight. The scores were 115-113 for Tank, 114-114 and 114-114.

It would be interesting to know what the New York Commission’s rationale for keeping the fight a draw. Regardless of whether Gervonta had hair grease in his eyes, a point should have been deducted from him when he took a knee, and a disqualification given when he turned his back and walked to his corner to have his face wiped.

Boxing fans on social media aren’t surprised by the NYSAC not changing the results, because they felt that Tank’s star power makes him someone who is given special treatment. If the results of the fight were changed by the Commission, giving Gervonta a loss, would he choose never to fight in New York again?

Rematch or Move On?

Davis is expected give Roach a rematch, but we’ll see if he does. He might to want to move on if he can get a more lucrative fight against Vasily Lomachenko, Ryan Garcia or Jake Paul.

Roach started slowly in the fight, not throwing many punches in the first half of the contest. But down the stretch in the second half, he outworked Tank, countering him and making him angry. Out of frustration, Tank started using roughhouse tactics against Roach, trying anything to get control of the fight. Nothing worked.