By Dan Ambrose: Gervonta Davis says Teofimo Lopez got the job done in beating Vasily Lomachenko this month, but his win wasn’t “convincing” in his eyes.
Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) saw Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) using his superior size to beat the smaller and older fighter Lomachenko (14-2, 10 Ks) by a 12 round decision on October 17th.
Tank feels that Lopez lacks the full package as a fighter, and he’d like to fight him if he stays at 135. In reacting to a comment from Teofimo about not being interested in fighting him, Davis says it’s likely because he’s big for the 135-lb division.
In other words, Teofimo should be fighting in the 140-pound weight class, which is more fitting for his body size.
Teofimo will try and stay at 135 long enough to use his size advantage to beat WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia. It’s unclear how much longer the 23-year-old Teofimo can keep making weight for the division.
Lopez looked emaciated at the Lomachenko fight’s weigh-in, and he was showing signs of being weight drained in the second half of that contest.
Davis: Teofimo got the job done against Lomachenko
“He got the job done, he did what he had to do,” said Tank Davis to Max on Boxing on his thoughts on Teofimo’s win over Lomachenko. “And he was younger; he was stronger and bigger.
“And he did what he had to do, and he said he was going to come in there and beat him, and that’s what he did. Now, I wouldn’t say it was so convincing, but he definitely got the job done,” Gervonta said about Teofimo.
You can argue that Lopez won the fight by default based on Lomachenko giving away the first seven rounds. Had Lomachenko fought hard in at least three of those rounds, he would have won the fight.
We don’t know how much Lomachenko’s right shoulder negatively impacted his performance. Lopez seems to think that the injury wasn’t a factor in the fight and that Lomachenko wasn’t throwing because he didn’t want to get hit.
When you see a fighter known for being busy not throwing punches, it’s reasonable to assume that were injured. It’s quite understandable why Teofimo doesn’t want to attribute his victory because of Lomachenko being injured.
It takes a humble person to admit that their injury-aided win was because of their opponent being hurt. In terms of popularity and future paydays, it doesn’t pay off for Teofimo to admit that Lomachenkos injury helped him win.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM_BmwaOF94&t=293s
It’s also important that Teofimo not give Lomachenko a rematch because he could beat him if he’s healthy next time. Once that happens, all the fame and glory that Teofimo is receiving will disintegrate on the spot. Teofimo will be viewed as yet another one-hit-wonder like Buster Douglas.
But even if Teofimo doesn’t fight Lomachenko again, he could still be transformed into another Douglas if he loses to someone.
Gervonta says Teofimo lacks the whole package
“He’s at 135, so I definitely got to have my eyes on him,” continued Davis in talking about Lopez. “The reason he’s saying his eyes aren’t on me is that he’s struggled to make the weight because he’s too big at 135, and I’d be strong moving up to 135.
“I got the whole package. Teofimo do not have the whole package. He doesn’t have the footwork or none of that. I have the whole package. If he’s willing to stay at 135, we can make the fight happen,” Davis said.
You can see what Davis is driving at when he talks about Teofimo lacking the whole package. Teofimo has these major flaws in his game:
- No inside game
- Can’t fight going backward
- Uncomfortable when being pressured
- Stamina problems
- Gets flustered when his opponents to fall apart
- Too proud
What we saw Lomachenko expose in the second half of the fight with Teofimo was a fighter that has too many holes to stay a champion for long. Without Top Rank matching Lopez carefully, he’s going to wind up like a lot of one-hit wonders.
Teofimo will likely not give the green light to Top Rank to match him against certain guys like Tank Davis and a rematch with Lomachenko. There are too many chances that Teofimo will lose to them, and his career will sink into oblivion.
You’d have to favor Tank Davis if he were to fight Teofimo right now. Teofimo’s inability to handle pressure and being backed up will hurt him big time against a fighter like Davis.
As a result, Teofimo wants no part of fighting Tank, and for a good reason. He’ll likely lose. All the things that we saw Lomachenko do to Teofimo in the second half are things that Davis would do.
Davis wants to put on a clinic against Santa Cruz
“I just got to go out there and do my best and be me,” Tank said when asked how he can make a statement against Santa Cruz. “Put on a great performance and not worry about the next person and how their performance was.
“I know Leo Santa Cruz is going to come to fight, and that’s going to bring the best out of me. I think that will bring the best out of me. Come October 31st; I’ll be ready.
“I’m ready. I had this camp a little bit longer, 14 weeks,” said Gervonta on his training for Santa Cruz. “He brings a big challenge because he brings excitement to boxing.
“As you can see, he throws a lot of punches, he’s strong, and he doesn’t have no wear & tear on his boxing.
“So it’s going to be a great fight. That’s the path I want to be on, and I think that I’m ready at this stage,” Gervonta said about wanting to follow the Floyd Mayweather Jr model towards PPV superstardom.
“Pretty Boy Floyd was younger, and he was more aggressive. Overall, I think everybody wants to be like that. The idea in boxing is to give punishment and not take it. That’s the path I want to take, and I want to help my kids coming after me,” said Tank.
Many boxing fans would disagree with Davis about his view of Santa Cruz not having any wear and tear on him. The 32-year-old Santa Cruz does seem to have lost something and saw that in his last fight against Miguel Flores.
Going into that fight, Flores had two out of his last three matches. He obviously didn’t rate fighting for a world title against Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz was “begging” for the fight
“He [Santa Cruz] definitely presents a challenge,” said Gervonta. “He’s the one that called me out. So he has to see something in me for him to call me out and say he wants this fight.
“He was begging for this fight, and it was up to me to take this fight. He’s coming up to 130, and he won my old belt [WBA super featherweight title]. That’s what champions do, just like when I went up to 135.
“That wasn’t my weight, but I went up to 135 to take on [Yuriorkis] Gamboa. I just got to go out there, do my best and be me,” Davis said when asked what he needs to do for him to make a statement against Leo Santa Cruz.
“And I need to put on a great performance and not worry about how the last fighter performed against him. I know Leo Santa Cruz is going to come to fight, and that’s going to bring the best out of me.
“I think that will bring the best out of me. Come October 31st; I’ll be ready. I’ll be 14 weeks in camp, and I’ve been working hard each and every day to be able to come out there and put on a great performance.
“That’s all I got to do is be myself and do what I got to do and put on a clinic,” said Gervonta on his fight against Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz indeed made it known that he wanted the fight with Gervonta in the worst way. Obviously, the money was the overriding factor for Leo wanting to face Tank.