Lamont Roach Gets Brutally Honest About Gervonta Davis “Disrespect”

Lamont Roach didn't mince words about his Gervonta "Tank" Davis opinion.
WBA Super Lightweight Champion Lamont Roach steps on the scale and makes weight on February 28, 2025.
WBA Super Lightweight Champion Lamont Roach steps on the scale and makes weight on February 28, 2025. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

There wasn't a lot of hype heading into the March 1 fight between Lamont Roach and Gervonta "Tank" Davis, which was for Davis' WBA lightweight belt.

While Tank was (and still is) one of the biggest names in all of boxing, and Roach was a champion who was jumping up in weight to try and add another belt to his resumé, Roach's lack of star power made this fight feel deflated in the lead-up. Not to mention that Tank was a massive favorite and was expected to dispatch Roach with relative ease.

Then the fight happened. Not only did Roach put on a good showing of himself, but many believe that he did enough to get his hand raised against Davis. The fight was ultimately ruled a draw, which left a lot to be desired among the boxing community.

But this draw also set the stage for a rematch. And given how much attention and intrigue this first bout created for weeks after Roach and Tank first fought, there was a lot of interest about seeing the rematch come to fruition.

Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Most expected this rematch would get made relatively easily, and an unofficial date of August 17 was announced on social media at one point. However, no official fight announcement was made as that fight date approached. This sparked concerns about what was taking so long and if there was some sort of holdup that would prevent this rematch from occurring.

Then Davis announced that he would be fighting Jake Paul in November, which presumably left Roach at the altar (at least for the time being) and made it unclear whether this rematch will ever take place.

Lamont Roach's Clear Gervonta Davis Opinion Speaks Volumes

Gervonta "Tank" Davis and Lamont Roach during a February 28, 2025 press conference.
Gervonta "Tank" Davis and Lamont Roach during a February 28, 2025 press conference. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

One couldn't blame Lamont Roach for holding some ill feelings towards Tank, given how he ditched the rematch to face Paul. And Roach got crystal clear regarding his opinion of Tank during an October 7 interview with Ring Magazine.

"There's a lot of people I could care less about. And he's one of them. That's for sure," Roach said of Davis, per an X post from Ring Magazine.

"But to go to the extent, it's like... He disrespected me. You know what I'm saying? You might do some things that I could care less for, and he might do some things that I could care less for. But he actually disrespected me. Me personally, I don't do that. I don't play like that. So, don't disrespect me and I won't disrespect you," he added.

Hopefully Davis doesn't retire after fighting Paul so Roach can get a chance to settle the score against him.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.