The New York Athletic Commission is looking closely at what happened during the Gervonta “Tank” Davis versus Lamont Roach fight on Saturday. A controversial decision in the ninth round might have changed the fight’s result.
The controversial moment occurred when Davis chose to kneel down. This could have been counted as a knockdown, and the referee, Steve Willis, even started a ten-count. Davis went to his corner to wipe his face. However, Willis decided not to penalize Davis for a knockdown, which would have taken a point away from Davis on the scorecards.
Davis later said that sweat and hair product were getting into his eyes. He didn’t want to risk getting hurt, so he took a break to fix the problem. Because Davis wasn’t penalized, Roach didn’t get the win. The fight ended in a majority draw, with two judges scoring it 114-114. If Davis had been penalized a point, Roach would have won by majority decision.
On Monday, the commission released a statement to MMA Fighting about this controversial situation.
“The New York State Athletic Commission is currently reviewing the situation from Saturday’s fight between Lamont Roach and Gervonta Davis,” commission officials stated. “During the round in question, when the commission asked for a replay video, there was a technical problem. This prevented the commission from getting the video in time to review it. So, the referee’s decision in the ring stood, and the fight continued.”
“The commission is dedicated to keeping combat sports fair and honest. We are committed to working with all promoters and production teams to make sure technical issues don’t happen again. We want to ensure ringside instant replay is available to commission officials when they need it, for the sake of the athletes, officials, and fans.”
It seems a technical issue stopped commission officials from reviewing the video quickly and deciding if Davis should be penalized for kneeling. As the commission reviews the situation, it’s unclear if any decision could change the fight’s outcome after the fact.
Despite the disappointing result, Roach really wants a rematch with Davis. He was a big underdog in the fight and almost pulled off a major upset.
Davis has already said he is willing to have a rematch. He posted on Twitter, “And say no more. I’m pushing for the rematch … the rematch can be soon too, like end of May.”
