Trainer Greg Hackett says the December 14th contest between Gervonta Davis and Lamont Roach is a “good fight.” He points out that many casual boxing fans don’t know Roach (25-1-1, 15 KOs) because they haven’t followed the sport closely enough to get familiar with him.
Hackett says Roach lacks the “flare” of fighters like Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney because he has a ” laid-back ” personality. He hasn’t had the same opportunities to get notable fights yet. Roach does hold the WBA super featherweight title after beating Hector Garcia last year, but the fight went under the fans’ radar.
Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) will defend his WBA lightweight title against Roach on December 14th at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The event will be shown on PBC on Amazon Prime Video. It’s still unclear if it will be on PPV and who will be on the undercard. All that info will be announced soon.
“To the people who know Lamont and to the people that know boxing and been around, it’s a good fight,” said trainer Greg Hackett to YSM Sports Media, talking about the Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach fight on December 14th. “What’s missing is that flare. Lamont isn’t that type of guy. He’s a gentleman; he’s laid back.”
It’s more than just “flare” that is missing with Roach. It’s the lack of a quality opposition on his resume, and the fact that he’s being pulled up from the 130-lb division to challenge Tank Davis at 135. Fans have seen Tank make this move in the past, hand-picking fighters from the super featherweight division to defend his WBA lightweight title against, and they’re tired of it. When you’re a champion like Tank and with no big names on his resume, fans are naturally upset when they see him comb the smaller divisions to select his challengers.
“Lamont is the type of guy like even if he tried to intimidate you, you wouldn’t be fully intimidated because his eyes are green, light-skinned boy. He don’t look like a super mean bull,” said Hackett.
The way that Roach was beaten by Jamel Herring in 2019 by a 12-round unanimous decision and the 10-round draw he had against Orlando Cruz in 2018 are obvious red flags that he’s not the ideal opponent for Gervonta to be defending his WBA lightweight title. Fans would prefer that Tank chooses from contenders like 2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz or Floyd Schofield to make a voluntary defense instead of selecting another super featherweight.
“Tank has got the tattoos, and his eyes are off a little bit. He looks crazy, like there’s something wrong with him,” Hackett said. “He’s got the braids, and he’s going to put a lot of extra [stuff] into it. He’s going to be coming in with an outfit and all that. So, Tank is coming with flair.
“Lamont is just a cool bull, but he can fight, and he is a champion. We should respect him as such. The problem is we’re always looking for hype. We’re always looking for big fights when, honestly, truly, this is a good fight,” said Hackett.
The real problem with Roach being used as Tank’s opponent of December 14th is that he can’t punch, and has nothing to offer as a challenger. Roach is a step down from Tank Davis’ recent challengers Frank Martin, Ryan Garcia and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero. Those guys were deeply flawed, and not the talented contenders that Tank should have fought.
“Lamont Roach knows Tank Davis. Tank Davis knows Lamont Roach. It’s a local fight and it’s big for their part of town for the DMV. It’s massive. They both fought Hector Garcia. The reason I brought that up is because of the level of boxing,” said Hackett.
Roach barely beat Hector Garcia last year, and didn’t look all that impressive, winning a 12 round split decision. Hector is the same fighter that Gervonta stopped in the ninth round in January 2023 in a one-sided fight.
“Tank only fought him a year and a half ago, Hector Garcia. So that is the same level of boxing,” said Hackett about Tank and Roach both having fought Hector Garcia. “So how can we say Tank is [cherry] picking when this guy [Roach] has a title? They have a history and know each other.
“The only thing that’s missing is that flare, like a Ryan Garcia or Devin Haney. They got the flair on them because the attention has been on them for some years.
“A guy like Lamont, he’s creeping through the crevices. ‘Where did he come from?’ That’s for people who just started watching boxing. I’ve been watching Lamong Roach for a while. They used to come to Philly to box. So, I’ve seen Lamont Roach a bunch of times.” said Hackett.
Roach wouldn’t be an unknown with fans if he’d stepped it up against some of the super featherweights like Emanuel Navarrete, Oscar Valdez, Anthony Cacace or Robson Conceicao.