By Sean Jones: Gervonta Davis (22-0, 21 KOs) weighed in successfully on his second attempt at the scales at 134.8 lbs after coming in 1.2 lbs heavy at 136.2 lbs on Friday for his title against Yuriorkis Gamboa (30-2, 18 KOs). Davis had an hour to lose 1.2 lbs to make the 135-lb limit, and he was able to successfully do that.
Davis will reportedly be fined for coming in over the limit on his first attempt.
After failing to make weight, Davis showed Gamboa, as if it was his fault that he came over the 135-lb limit. Once that badly staged theatrics were over, the former IBF/WBA super featherweight champion Davis went back to his dressing room, and sweated off excess weight.
Gamboa has a better chance of winning now
That extra 1.4 lbs that Davis had to work off to make weight could end up weakening him to the point where he’ll be vulnerable against Gamboa. As it is, Davis has taken off a lot of weight. A month ago, Davis looked like a fat welterweight, and he’s had to burn all that blubber off in a hurry.
Recently, Tank Davis said he could beat light welterweight champion Josh Taylor. With Davis now having problems making the 135-lb limit, he’s probably right. Look at how big he is.
All the soft match-making that’s been done for Davis seems to have gone to his head, because he’s now coming in overweight, and looking fat. In the build up to this fight, Davis looked incredibly fat. You see a double chin on him. Davis is a good fighter, but he clearly doesn’t take training seriously in between fights.
Is Gervonta the next Adrien Broner?
It would be sad if Davis becomes the next Adrien Broner rather than the next Mayweather. The fact that Gervonta is already struggling with weight at the still young age of 25, his time as an elite level fighter is likely limited. This is how it goes with fighters that taste big money early in their career.
They feel they’ve got it made, and they don’t train the way they’re supposed to. What happens then they get beaten, and wind up struggling for the remainder of their careers. Recently, we’ve seen two examples of fighters that were ruined by success in Andy Ruiz Jr. and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Davis can fight for WBA lightweight title
When Davis returned to the stage, he weighed in at 134.8 lbs. As such, Davis will now able to fight Gamboa, 37, for the vacant WBA ‘regular’ lightweight title this Saturday on December 28 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Had Gervonta 25, not been able to make weight in an hours time, then the WBA title would have only been on the line for Gamboa.
This is a bad start for Tank Davis in moving up from super featherweight to lightweight, as it shows that he’s going to have problems making weight for this division too. The major reason why Davis moved out of the 130-lb weight class is because of how hard it was for him to make weight.
The belief was that by having an extra 5 lbs to play weight by moving up to 135, Davis would have no problems. Unfortunately, it looks like Davis’ situation will be no better in moving up to lightweight. In the near future, the 5’5 1/2″ Davis may need to move up to 140 so that he can make weight.
Gervonta’s limited height makes 140 a bad division for him
At light welterweight, Davis’ short height will limit his effectiveness against the taller fighters like Josh Taylor, Viktor Postol, Jose Ramirez and Regis Prograis.
Gervonta is with Mayweather Promotions, and it’s surprising that he’s struggling with his weight. Floyd Mayweather Jr. always put in the hard work to make weight. He didn’t cut corners, and he NEVER ballooned up in weight between fights the way Tank Davis does. With all Mayweather’s money, he needs to get Davis a full-time cook that can design the right low-calorie meals for him.
Further, Gervonta needs someone to train him in between fights, because he can’t use his training camps as glorified fat farms to burn off all the weight that he’s accumulated while sitting on the sofa watching television for 4 months each time he gets ready to fight.
