Gervonta “Tank” Davis, despite a tough fight, retained his WBA lightweight title in a match against Lamont Roach at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Davis was heavily favored, but the fight was much closer than expected, ending in a majority draw after 12 rounds. Some observers believe Davis was fortunate to even get a draw.
In the ninth round, Davis surprisingly dropped to a knee after receiving a punch from Roach. He then went to his corner, where his face was wiped with a towel.
Davis later explained in a post-fight interview that the incident was due to hair grease getting into his eyes.
“I just got my hair done two days ago, and she put grease in my hair,” Davis said. “The grease ran into my eyes from sweating and it burned.”
The crowd reacted negatively to Davis’s explanation with boos, leading him to defend his statement.
“Why are you booing like I’m lying?” Davis responded. “It’s the truth! Look at my hair [shows his hair], I just got it styled.”
Despite the explanation, taking a knee during a fight usually results in a knockdown. Referee Steve Willis initially began a count but ultimately decided against penalizing Davis.
“I didn’t want to get hit when my eyes were burning,” Davis stated at the post-fight press conference. “You can get knocked out like that. I chose to take a knee, but I didn’t realize it could lead to disqualification. When the count started, I was surprised, but it’s alright.”
The judges’ scorecards showed a majority draw, with one judge scoring it 115-113 for Davis and two others scoring it 114-114. Had the referee counted the knee as a knockdown, Roach would have likely won by majority decision due to the point deduction.
Roach commented at the press conference, “I honestly believe I should have won even without the knee incident being counted as a knockdown. I’m not the referee, but if he needed to wipe sweat from his eyes, he needed to. However, the rules state that taking a knee results in an automatic eight-count. If it had been ruled a knockdown, I would have won by majority decision.”
