Gervonta Davis and Lamont Roach fought to a majority draw on March 1, 2025, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, so Davis kept his WBA lightweight title. Two judges scored it 114-114 and the third had it 115-113 for Davis, who had been a -2000 favorite.
How the Davis vs. Roach fight went
Davis started slowly, as he has in other fights, and Roach pressed the action through the first half. Roach, the WBA champion at 130 pounds, was moving up to 135 to try to become a two-weight champion. By the middle rounds Davis opened up, but Roach held his ground and landed counters and combinations.
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The fight turned on the ninth round. After a series of Roach punches landed, Davis took a knee. The referee started a count, stopped at three and did not rule it a knockdown. Davis said afterward that grease from a hair treatment had burned his eyes, and his corner was allowed to wipe them with a towel during the round. Davis pressed for a knockout in the championship rounds, and Roach answered with counters and body shots.
The result, and the appeal that failed
Roach protested the result to the New York State Athletic Commission. The commission denied it. After reviewing the footage, it said the most appropriate call would have been a knockdown, but that the fight went on for more than three full rounds after the referee’s ruling and both boxers adjusted to it, so the call was not outcome-determinative. ESPN reported that a knockdown would have given Roach the decision.
For bettors, Davis at -2000 implied a 95.2% chance he would win, and a Davis ticket did not cash: whether it was refunded or lost depended on the book’s rule for a draw on a two-way moneyline.
What happened next
Davis left the fight at 30-0-1 with 28 knockouts. In July 2026, ESPN reported that he had not fought since the draw, and ESPN and Boxing News both reported that the WBA had named him its lightweight champion in recess. Boxing News quoted a report that Davis would not be available to fight until early 2027.
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