Boxing

Teddy Atlas Gives Unpopular Opinion On Gervonta 'Tank' Davis vs Lamont Roach Fight

Boxing icon Teddy Atlas showed some positivity around the much-lamented Gervonta "Tank" Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr. fight.
Grant Young|
Boxing icon Teddy Atlas during an August 27, 2011 press conference.
Boxing icon Teddy Atlas during an August 27, 2011 press conference. | IMAGO / Christian Schroedter

The March 1 fight between Gervonta "Tank" Davis and Lamont Roach Jr. will go down as one of the most controversial bouts in recent boxing memory.

Just about everybody in the sport has lamented referee Steve Willis' objectively poor judgement in allowing Davis to go to his corner in the middle of a round without reproach and not docking Davis a point for taking a knee.

What's more, this bout will leave a sour taste in the boxing world's mouth (at least until the rumored rematch occurs) because Davis managed to escape with a majority draw, while a knockdown getting called would have earned Roach a win.

Boxing legend Teddy Atlas didn't disagree with the sentiment around this atrocious refereeing, and felt just as disheartened by the fight's outcome as everyone else. But in a recent episode of his
THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas podcast, the former trainer also offered a glass half full opinion of the fight.

"That was high level boxing," Atlas said of the Davis vs. Roach fight. "That was two guys at the highest level showing their skills, and everything that goes with it. And contrary to that a lot of people think... that was high level boxing. That was the sweet science at its best. AT ITS BEST!"

He later added, "When you're inside, in a dangerous place, in the middle of the furnace... and you don't get burnt up, you don't get torched, you don't get scorched, that is high level boxing. That is the sweetest of the sweet of science. I just marveled at it. These two guys, my goodness... there's no room for error. Both guys, especially Tank, so dangerous. One little punch... bang, it's all over."

Atlas concluded with, "That [fight] was appreciated by me... They did their thing."

It's nice to hear some positivity surrounding this fight for once.

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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.