Boxing

Undefeated Champion Defends Gervonta 'Tank' Davis Amid Lamont Roach Fight Criticism

Jaron "Boots" Ennis showed Gervonta "Tank" Davis respect after his Lamont Roach fight.
Grant Young|
WBA Lightweight Champion Gervonta "Tank" Davis faces off WBA Super Featherweight Champion Lamont Roach on February 28, 2025.
WBA Lightweight Champion Gervonta "Tank" Davis faces off WBA Super Featherweight Champion Lamont Roach on February 28, 2025. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Gervonta "Tank" Davis has been subject to a lot of criticism from fans, peers, and media members ever since his March 1 fight against Lamont Roach Jr. The 30-year-old has had his physical performance and mental state scrutinized by the boxing world in the aftermath of that fight, which ended up in a majority draw.

Many believed Davis didn't look like himself in the ring, especially because he's a knockout puncher who never had Roach rocked at any point during the 12-round bout.

And after his controversial decision to take a knee during the ninth round of the bout and then walk over to his corner to wipe his face, many seem convinced Davis was in a questionable place mentally (despite these actions not getting penalized by the bout's referee).

However, not everyone is calling Davis out for his performance. Undefeated IBF welterweight champion and pound-for-pound great Jaron "Boots" Ennis showed Tank respect during a March interview with YSM Sports Media.

"It was a great fight. I had it 7-5, Tank. Or you can make it a draw, But I feel like Lamont, he did good. He did a great job, actually. But I don't think he did enough to pull it off," Ennis said. "I feel like people are overlooking what Tank was doing in the first five, six rounds. He was boxing, and frustrating him a little bit, but Lamont did a great job."

He later added, "I feel like people just don't like Tank to the point where any little thing. Just because he didn't knock him out, they feel like he probably lost, and he didn't, or it was a draw. I feel like Tank was doing a lot of smart things in the beginning... He looked sharp to me. I don't know, people just be talking. At the end of the day, you can't please everybody."

Props to Ennis for showing Davis respect when most other are doing the opposite.

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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.