Leonard Ellberbe not sure if Tank Davis will fight again in 2023

By Boxing News - 09/19/2023 - Comments

By Allan Fox: Leonard Ellerbe of Mayweather Promotions says he’s unsure when or if Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis will fight again this year.

Ellerbe states that Tank’s next fight will make a “big splash” when it happens, and he won’t be “taking no pay cut,” which is hard to believe, considering his last fight was against the social media/boxer  Ryan Garcia last April.

That fight brought in a lot of PPV buys, likely due to Ryan’s 11 million Instagram followers. Tank never did big numbers on PPV before that fight, so you have to attribute the success of that event to the influencer Ryan Garcia’s ton of followers on social media.

Ellerbe made it clear that the opposition fans want to see Gervonta; he’ll face them on his timeline, not there’s, which means when matches have marinated long enough.

Who will Gervonta Davis fight next?

  •  Isaac Cruz
  • Frank Martin
  • George Kambosos Jr

Of course, that also could mean that Tank won’t fight the top guys at all because he’s been in the game for a long time, and he’s never fought anyone yet other than social media boxer Ryan Garcia.

The other guys Tank has fought during his career have been a mix of washed smaller fighters,  paper champions, and fringe-level fighters.

Gervonta has never fought the top-level fighters that fans wanted to see him face, like Teofimo Lopez, Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney, or Vasily Lomachenko [before he got old]. Rhyan Garcia doesn’t count because he’s not true top level. He’s just a social media boxer.

Tank recently got out of jail after violating the terms of his 90-day home detention. Before going to jail, Gervonta (29-0, 27 KOs) had purchased a $3.4 million penthouse apartment. He was supposed to have stayed at this trainer Calvin Ford’s home during the home detention.

“When Tank is ready to come back out, he going to make that big splash like he always does,” said Leonard Ellerbe toFighthype when asked if Tank Davis will be fighting soon.

If Tank faces Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz in a rematch next, which is what many boxing fans expect, it won’t make a “big splash” like Ellerbe says it will. That fight will bring in a tiny amount of PPV buys because it’s a needless rematch, as Cruz has been taking on soft opposition since his loss to Gervonta in 2021.

If Cruz had agreed to fight Shakur and beaten him, then a rematch with Tank would make sense, but he’s failed to do that.

“Tank will fight whoever he wants to fight because he’s that big, and it doesn’t have to be for a belt. I can say that because he’s that guy,”  said Ellerbe. “He’s going to get those guys that they [the fans] want.  He’s going to get those guys.

“This is prize-fighting. Tank Davis isn’t going to be taking no paycut for anything. He’s the boss. Tank is that dude,”  said Ellerbe.

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