Boxing

NYSAC Delivers Verdict On Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach

NYSAC gives verdict on Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach.
Apratim Banerjee|
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

The New York State Athletic Commission has given its verdict and decided that the Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach draw decision will not be overturned. Roach challenged Davis for the WBA lightweight title on March 1.

It was a closely fought bout in which the judges' scorecards read 115-113 Davis, 114-114, 114-114. Davis retained his title via majority decision.

'Tank', however, deliberately took a knee in the ninth round and claimed it was due to extra grease in his hair. The referee didn't count it as a knockdown, which baffled Roach's camp and the boxing community as a whole. Roach appealed the draw decision as a potential knockdown would mean he won the fight.

MORE: Lamont Roach Jr. Alleges Gervonta 'Tank' Davis Brought 'Illegal Irritant' Into Fight

The NYSAC have now given their ruling and the commission's verdict read:

The bout continued for more than three full rounds after the referee's no knockdown call, and because the boxers necessarily adjusted to the referee's ruling, the referee's call was not outcome-determinative.

It furthered:

Following an extensive after-the-fact review of the footage of the ninth round, that the most appropriate call ... would have been for the referee to determine that Mr. Davis' knee contacting the canvas constituted a knockdown. However, the determination of whether a knockdown occurred in that instance was within the discretion and authority of the referee.

The statement further claimed that it's impossible to determine whether counting the incident as a knockdown would have changed the course of the fight over the final three rounds.

Such conjecture would be misplaced, and setting such a precedent is not viewed by the commission as guaranteeing a correct outcome retroactively or as in keeping with the best interest of boxing.
Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

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Apratim Banerjee
APRATIM BANERJEE

Apratim is a Boxing and Soccer reporter for On SI. He has been in the industry for five years, having also worked for The Sporting News, Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, and more. After coming from an engineering background, he started pursuing a career in sports media. Apratim also holds an MSc. Sport Marketing degree from Loughborough University London and is a keen practitioner of social media and digital marketing. In his spare time, Apratim likes to play an array of sports and practice calisthenics. He is also an avid enthusiast of improving his martial arts skills.