By Mark Eisner: WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) overcame a sluggish start to stop his #1 challenger Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (14-1, 12 KOs) in the sixth round on Saturday night to retain his title at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York,
Going into the sixth, things were looking bleak for the surprisingly bad Tank, but he came alive suddenly to land a perfect counter to stop Rolly.
It was an abrupt ending to a fight that had seen very little action up to that point. Rolly got suckered in and talent out by the more experienced Tank, but it wasn’t a great performance that suggests that the Baltimore native would beat fighters like Shakur Stevenson or Vasyl Lomachenko.
Undercard results:
- WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (29-3-3, 17 KOs) stopped #10 Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan (31-5, 21 KOs) in the eighth round in the embarrassingly bad co-feature bout on the card. In the eighth, Lara landed a hard left that staggered O’Sullivan, resulting in the referee stepping in to halt the halt. The 39-year-old Lara looked sluggish throughout, needing to spend time on the ropes in every round to take rest breaks. In the fourth, Lara dropped the 37-year-old O’Sullivan. If the knockdown had happened earlier in the round, Lara would have finished O’Sullivan. Lara had O’Sullivan hurt in rounds six and seven before finishing him in the eighth. With this being a pay-per-view card with a price tag of $74.95, there should have been a better co-feature than this. Lara vs. Janibek Alimkhanuly would have been more competitive and far more interesting for the fans.
- Undefeated junior middleweight Jesus Ramos (19-0, 15 KOs) defeated Luke Santamaria (13-3-1, 7 KOs) by a dull 10-round unanimous decision. The scores were 98-92, 97-93, and 97-93.
- Super featherweight contender Eduardo Ramirez (27-2-3, 12 KOs) defeated Luis Melendez (17-2, 13 KOs) by a 10 round majority decision. The judges scored it 95-95, 96-94, and 98-92. The win for the 29-year-old Ramirez was his fifth straight since losing to Claudio Marrero in 2019.
Preview:
“He’s ready to go, and he has a perfect opportunity that he’s been asking me for the last four years,” said Leonard Ellerbe to K.O. Artist Sports about Rolly Romero having asked him for a fight against Tank Davis for ages.
The co-feature bout for the Tank vs. Rolly card is an odd duck, with WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (28-3-3, 16 KOs) defending against #10 WBA Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan (31-4, 21 KOs).
O’Sullivan, 37, has done precious little to deserve a world title shot, even against the secondary WBA 160-lb champion Lara. Two fights ago, O’Sullivan was stopped in the eleventh round by Jaime Munguia in January 2020.
Since that defeat, the Ireland native O’Sullivan has fought just once, beating journeyman Nodar Robakidze (16-35-6) by a six-round unanimous decision last year in May 2021.
O’Sullivan will be coming off a 12-month layoff when he challenges the 39-year-old Lara tonight for his WBA ‘regular’ 160-lb title in the chief support bout on Showtime’s PPV card.
The Cuban Lara is coming off a first-round knockout victory over Thomas LaManna last May in a fight in which he captured the vacant WBA ‘regular’ middleweight title.
Given the lackluster opponent, the World Boxing Association might as well have given Lara the title rather than going through the formality of having him fight the terribly overmatched LaManna for the belt.
“I’m at another fight, and he comes out of nowhere, ‘Yo, I want to fight Tank. Leonard, when are you going to make that?’ He calls me on the phone, ‘Leonard, please, please, I want Tank.’
How to watch Davis vs. Romero
Boxing fans can order Davis vs. Romero on Showtime pay-per-view for $74.99 on TV. For fans that prefer to stream the Tank vs. Rolly fight on the Internet, they can purchase it from PPV.com for $74.99.
UK fans can order Tank – Rolly on FITE PPV for £10.50.
“I’m like, ‘Bro, be patient. Be patient.’ We’re here now. It was like four years ago, and I said, ‘You want to fight Tank?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to knock that mother.’ I’m like, ‘Whoa, okay. Be patient. Be patient.’
“Hell yeah because that could be the fight. He could turn his ankle,” said about him feeling nervous about seeing Rolly pushed off the stage by Gervonta last Friday at the weigh-in.
“Thankful both guys are okay. We’ve got a big fight. Everybody says, ‘Oh, that’s got to bother you [Tank saying he’s leaving Mayweather Promotions after Rolly fight].’ Why does stuff like that bother me?
“I got to focus on doing this. I have no control over any of that stuff, and I don’t discuss what our business is with our fighters. That’s being unprofessional. We’ve done a terrific job,” said Ellerbe.
“Tank is focusing on every word that came out of his mouth, make him pay for it,” said Gervonta’s trainer Calvin Ford about Tank’s desire to get back at Rolly for the trash-talking he’s done during the build-up to the fight.
“Every single word Rolly said on the Internet, put it into a punch for all the punches we can think of,” Calvin continued. “Every shot we hit him with, that’s the word that came out of Rolly’s mouth.
“It’s not about carrying. If an opportunity arises, it is what it is,” Ford said about Tank intending on knocking out Rolly if he sees the possibility.
“No, he’s never been tested by a guy that can hit like Rolly,” said Rolly’s strength & conditioning coach, Larry Wade, to Fighthype, when asked if Gervonta has ever been tested by a fighter that can punch like Rolando.
“He’s been in with some champions, don’t misunderstand. Once again, it’s not to take away from any of those guys [that Tank has fought in the past]. Those guys are great. It’s a different type of fighter.
“That’s like comparing cards between a Lamborghini and a Ferrari. They’re both great cars, they’re both fast. So one doesn’t make it better than the other. It’s all about preference.
“Those guys did a great job. I just feel like at this point the type of power and strength that Rolly has shown that he can bring into this ring can give people problems. Knockout,” said Wade when asked how he views Rolly beating Gervonta tonight.
“I can’t wait. It’s going to be a great fight,” said Jose Benavidez Sr to Fighthype on the Tank vs. Rolly clash. “It’s going to be bombs that are going to be thrown.
“You saw what happened at the weigh-in here,” said Benavidez Sr. alluding to Gervonta pushing Rolly off the platform. “It’s a 50-50 fight. Whoever drops that hand and the other one takes advantage of it, its going to go down, man.
“We have an awkward guy [Rolly] against a guy that’s very, very skillful [Tank Davis]. To be honest with you, Tank has the advantage in experience, and he’s the champion for a reason.
“He’s a different weight champion [Tank]. With Rolly, he’s awkward and has a big heart, but my heart is with Rolly. Hopefully, Rolly wins. Even though Rolly doesn’t like me, I like Rolly, and I’m cheering for Rolly,” said Benavidez Sr.
Rolly, 26, definitely has the size, power, and toughness to pull off an upset tonight, but it’s not going to be easy. Tank Davis possesses a lot of talent, power, and experience.
It’s fair to say that if Rolly doesn’t get to Tank early on in this fight, he’s going to fall quickly behind and wind up losing a one-sided 12-round decision.
Tank probably won’t go fallout for a knockout because Rolly hits too hard for him to be putting his chin on the line trying to score a stoppage.
Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero will be looking to rip the WBA ‘regular’ lightweight title away from champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis tonight in their 12-round headliner fight on Showtime pay-per-view from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The action starts at 9:00 p.m. ET in this Premier Boxing Champions event.