Lamont Roach considered legal action after Gervonta Davis bailed on rematch, believes 'Tank' doesn't care about boxing

One of boxing's biggest disappointments of 2025 will no doubt be that we didn't get to see Lamont Roach and Gervonta Davis run back their controversial first fight.

Heavy underdog Roach extended "Tank" Davis to a draw in March in New York, but a second meeting never came to fruition, with Davis instead choosing to face Jake Paul in a now-canceled exhibition match.

Roach detailed the breakdown of rematch Monday with Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show."

"If he wouldn't have veered off, it would've happened," Roach said. "He activated his rights to the rematch, which contractually binds us to a fight where no event or fight should take place in between. ... [Then] he did what isn't supposed to happen — he took a fight with Jake Paul."

"We were supposed to fight in June," Roach continued. "That's when we signed our original contract [for]. We signed not too long after the fight ... we actually signed on the dotted line [and so did Davis]. ... Then he needed more time.

"Then it got pushed back to August — that was the one that was announced. And then the whole Jake Paul thing happened."

Davis had the contractual right to a rematch, which he exercised shortly after the March fight. The bout was heavily linked to an Aug. 16 date, but an official announcement never arrived. Davis halted training at some point in June, and when he was arrested on July 11 on new allegations of domestic violence, the rematch was considered unlikely to happen altogether.

Roach told Uncrowned that when Davis triggered the rematch clause, it meant the WBA lightweight champion wasn't allowed to fight anybody other than Roach. Davis, however, announced a boxing match with Paul for November, which, according to Roach, was not consistent with the obligations Davis had to Roach under their agreement.

Since the rematch didn't happen, Roach considered legal recourse against Davis — namely, arbitration. Premier Boxing Champions, which looks after Davis, financially compensated Roach for the second fight not happening, according to Roach, and he is now aligned under the PBC banner, where he fights Isaac "Pitbull" Cruz for the WBC interim super lightweight title on Saturday in San Antonio, Texas.

"We knew [the Davis rematch wouldn't happen]," Roach said. "That's why this fight is taking place with 'Pitbull.' We kind of figured that, like, alright, after it's heating up on him, after that last fight — we don't know what's going to go on. We know what we're dealing with. We know we're dealing with a wildcard when it comes to boxing, when it comes to business, when it comes to his personal life. We don't know what can happen.

"My dad [and] my manager [Roberto Diaz] made sure that he put in the contract that no matter what, even if we don't fight Gervonta Davis, we're going to fight this year, regardless, because we don't know what's going to happen with him. Once we started hearing the Jake Paul talk, we were just like, 'Alright, here we go.' Next thing you know, it really came out that he was going to fight him."

Davis said in December 2024 that 2025 would be his final year in boxing as he was feeling disillusioned with the sport. Theoretically, that could mean the controversial Roach fight will be Davis' last-ever bout.

"I believe him [that he'll retire]," Roach said.

"He told everybody he don't really care about boxing. He told people he don't care about champions. And he told people he was going to get his money, and y'all [are] not going to see him again. It looks like he's doing it — that's what I'm saying. He's making me a believer."

The rematch would've been a major attraction because of the controversy behind the first fight. Many are of the belief that Roach was denied the win over Davis in large part due to a contentious call made by referee Steve Willis in the ninth round.

Seconds after being hit with a left hand, Davis took a knee in the opening minute of that frame. He later said that he did so to go back to his corner and wipe his eye because grease from his braids was bothering him. The lightweight champion didn't give Willis any prior warning that he was going to do it, yet still no knockdown was counted. Willis began to administer a count but inexplicably stopped.

There are no breaks in boxing, and therefore, Davis' impromptu kneel-down should've been counted as a knockdown. Roach told Uncrowned that the New York State Athletic Commission also confirmed to him that it should've been a knockdown, but it refused to overturn the decision because the commission couldn't account for how Davis would've performed in the remainder of the fight if he knew that he was on the wrong end of a 10-8 round.

"The ninth round was [bulls***]. That was [bulls***]," Roach reflected. "That was something I would get mad at a few times after I watched it. It was just — some people get special treatment. We talk about this over and over again. The referee saw it — it was a knockdown, started counting, and then somehow, some way, you let him say something to you to convince you that, 'Alright, well you can't do that again because if you do it, it looks like a knockdown.' Verbally [he said it] out of his mouth, too. It gets picked up on the mics and everything. You stop your count and tell him it looks like a knockdown? That's crazy.

"It was [a robbery in broad daylight], but a lot of people know that and that's the important part. ... You can't [take that to the bank, though]. Even later on, after we're gone and we look at the history books, it's still going to be marked up as a draw.

"It's frustrating, but you can't cry over spilled milk. You've got to move forward."

Roach hopes to put that all behind him now as he moves up another division to challenge Cruz for the WBC interim belt on Saturday in his second consecutive pay-per-view headliner.