WBA orders Gervonta Davis vs. Rolando Romerto fight

By Boxing News - 01/24/2022 - Comments

By Sean Jones: On Monday, the WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis has been ordered by the World Boxing Association to begin negotiations with #1 ranked contender Rolando Romero.

The Gervonta Davis vs. Rolando Romero fight is expected to be shown on Showtime pay-per-view, which won’t make boxing fans happy because it’s NOT a PPV-worthy fight. Fans have to get used to it, though, because all of Tank Davis’ fights are going to be on PPV until his career is over.

The negotiations have until February 24th before a purse bid is scheduled to take place.

For Mayweather Promotions, this news must make them quite happy, as Tank Davis and Romero (14-0, 12 KOs) are both signed with their company. It’ll be an in-house fight for Mayweather Promotions, so it’s a no-brainer for them. Sean Jones won’t be surprised if we see a rematch between Tank and Rolando, even if one isn’t needed.

It’s a win-win for Mayweather Promotions that Tank Davis and Rolando Romero will be meeting up on Showtime PPV.

Moreover, this was a fight they were expected to make anyway once the 26-year-old Romero was cleared of his recent sexual assault allegations.

Gervonta (26-0, 24 KOs) had been scheduled to defend against former WBA interim 135-lb champion Romero, who previously went by the nickname ‘Rolly’, for December 5th last month on Showtime pay-per-view at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Due to the allegations made against Romero, he was pulled from the card and replaced by Isaac ‘Pitbull’Β  Cruz, and he wound up giving Tank Davis the fight of his life, pressuring him nonstop and forcing him to flee in the championship rounds after gassing out.

Image: WBA orders Gervonta Davis vs. Rolando Romerto fight

Tank wound up winning a controversial 12 round unanimous decision, but the boxing public viewed it as a win for Pitbull Cruz. The scores were 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112. Sean Jones scored it for Pitbull Cruz by a 115-113.

Yeah, it was another terrible decision, but it’s not surprising that the judges gave it to Tank Davis because he was the A-side and his opponent wasn’t a big name at the time.

Davis vs. Romero will make some boxing fans happy, as they like the trash-talking that Rolando was doing when he was previously scheduled to fight Gervonta last December.

The boxing world would prefer to see Tank Davis fight a bigger name at 135 like one of these guys:

  • George Kambosos Jr
  • Devin Haney
  • Ryan Garcia
  • Jorge Linares
  • Vasily Lomachenko
  • Michel Rivera
  • Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz
  • Richard Commey
  • William Zepeda

Rolando Romer’s recent wins:

  • Anthony Yigit – TKO 7
  • Avery Sparrow – TKO 7
  • Jackson Marinez – UD 12 [* controversial]
  • Arturs Ahmetovs – TKO 2
  • Juan Carlos Cardones – TKO 1
  • Andres Figueroa – TKO 4

Romero lost a lot of credibility with his controversial 12 round decision victory over Jackson Marinez in August 2020. Boxing fans believe that Marinez did more than enough to rate the victory, but instead, Romero had his hand raised and was loudly booed.

Where Mayweather Promotions dropped the ball is choosing not to set up a rematch between Rolando and Marinez to clear up the controversy. As a result, Romero is looked at as having won a controversial decision, and fans see him as a flawed fighter that was given a gift.

Romero isn’t expected to beat Tank Davis or even be competitive for that matter. Mayweather Promotions are arguably stunting Tank Davis’ career by only matching him against other PBC and fighters from their own stable rather than the elite guys.

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