Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach Jr. Headlining December 14th PBC on Prime Video PPV in Houston, Texas
Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis now has an official date and location for his second fight of the year.
Ring’s No. 1 fighter. 8 pound-for-pound will defend his WBA lightweight title against Lamont Roach Jr., who is moving up in weight. Their fight scheduled for 12 rounds will be headlined on Dec. 14 PBC at the Prime Video Pay-Per-View event from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
The event was confirmed by the PBC on Sunday evening.
Davis (30-0, 28 knockouts) will attempt to defend the full version of the WBA lightweight title for the second time. The previously undefeated Baltimore native held the ‘Normal’ belt before being promoted to the divisional exit of Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs; 1 No Contest) last year.
Before he gets this fight, Davis and his team are looking for a unification fight against IBF lightweight Vasiliy Lomachenko. Such a fight was intended for November, but Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs), declined and instead chose to sit out the balance of the year.
Finally, a way was created for Roach (25-1-1, 10 knockouts) to enter the equation. The WBA 130-pound roster was previously named interim title contender Albert Batyrgaziev earlier this summer. However, a one-time exception was granted instead of challenging Davis at the top weight.
With the win, Roach will have to decide whether to stay at lightweight or return to 130. The loss would leave him on the back foot to face Batyrgaziev (12-0, 8 KOs) less than 120 days before the fight. Davis.
Davis and Roach both received eighth-round knockouts in two separate weeks against undefeated competitors.
Davis’ turn came against Frank Martin at the top of PBC’s June 15 Prime PPV in Las Vegas. The bout was competitive until it wasn’t. Davis eventually caught Martin and knocked him out for the fourth time in a row.
Roach, stopped undefeated Feargal McCrory (16-1, 8 KOs) in the eighth round on June 28 in Washington, DC The night marked the first home bout in nearly seven years for Roach, The Ring’s No. 4-rated junior lightweight from Upper Marlboro. , Maryland.
Before that he won his first title. Roach scored a surprise 12th-round knockout to knock out and dethrone WBA 130-pound titleholder Hector Luis Garcia (16-2, 10 KOs). In all, Roach has won six in a row. His lone loss came by decision on Nov. 2019 for then WBO junior lightweight champion Jamel Herring in Fresno, California.
