NEW YORK — Lamont Roach refuted the prevailing opinion that he’ll go to sleep earlier than he’d prefer Saturday night by suggesting Gervonta Davis bring something comfortable for himself when he packs his bag for the short trip to Barclays Center.
“I told him this s*** real,” Roach told Miguel Flores, Premier Boxing Champions’ emcee, immediately after the fighters made weight Friday afternoon at Barclays Center. “He talking about he gonna stop me. He know damn well that s*** ain’t gonna happen. I told him to bring a pillow.”
Roach referred, of course, to putting Davis to sleep. Davis, the powerful southpaw from Baltimore, has made himself one of boxing’s biggest stars by knocking out almost every opponent he has fought, 93% of them, often in very violent, fan-friendly fashion.
The odds on their lightweight title fight — 20-1 in Davis’ favor, according to BetMGM — strongly suggest the lighter-punching Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs) will become victim No. 29 on Davis’ unblemished record (30-0, 28 KOs). Roach recognizes Davis’ vaunted power, skill and ability to give away rounds, only to eventually land the type of impactful punch that abruptly puts even the most confident foes in check.
Roach knows Davis perhaps better, though, than any of Davis’ first 30 professional opponents. They came up as amateurs together in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area — the DMV to people from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Northern Virginia. They even fought twice in 2011, before they turned pro — Davis in 2013 and Roach in 2014.
Davis won both bouts on points. Roach’s recollections are that their fights were more competitive than Davis remembers.
That won’t matter sometime after 11 p.m. ET on Saturday night. That’s when Roach will try to seize his opportunity to prove what he has said since their handlers finalized this fight last fall: That Davis’ team made a matchmaking mistake this time.
If Roach does pull off what would be considered a huge upset, it won’t be because Davis overlooked him. For all the criticism the polarizing fighter nicknamed “Tank” has taken — justifiably in certain cases — about his level of opposition, Davis doesn’t overlook opponents.
Roach realizes the 30-year-old Davis wouldn’t have ascended to his position as one of boxing’s biggest box-office and pay-per-view attractions if he didn’t respect the preparation process more than the habitually tardy superstar tends to value the time of virtually everyone involved in his career.
Barry Hunter, a Washington-based trainer most known for his work with former junior welterweight champ Lamont Peterson and Adrien Broner, has helped prepare Davis for this fight. The widely respected Hunter considers Roach the most skillful opponent Davis has agreed to face during his 12-year professional career.
Davis concurred during their final press conference Thursday.
“I totally agree,” Davis said. “He got good skills. You know, that’s why he’s here. You know what I mean? I think he’s 25-0 [sic], with 10 knockouts. So, he’s an A-plus fighter, I would say.”
Roach’s lone pro loss was a 12-round unanimous decision to Jamel Herring in their fight for Herring’s WBO junior lightweight title in November 2019. A resilient Roach rebounded from that defeat and eventually won the WBA super featherweight title from Dominican southpaw Hector Luis Garcia, an opponent Davis stopped in the ninth round of their January 2023 fight at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
The crafty, experienced Roach edged Garcia (16-2, 10 KOs, 3 NC) by split decision in their 12-round, 130-pound championship match 10 months after Davis stopped him. Dismissed as too small for Davis, Roach stands about two inches taller than him and was more than a pound heavier at their weigh-in Friday afternoon.
Davis, viewed by his detractors as arrogant and unwilling to fight elite-level lightweights, clearly respects Roach.
“It’s showtime now,” Davis said. “You know, all the talking and all the work been put in. You know, so come Saturday night it’s gonna be a great fight. You know what I mean? Lamont coming with his best, I’m coming with my best, and, you know, right here is the top of the DMV area, just on this stage, period.
“So, even on the undercard, the Gary Russells and things like that, they definitely part of the DMV and things like that. So, we got great talent fighting on the card Saturday night. So, I just wanna be here, give it my all. You know, I’m grateful and happy to be part of this event and be at this level in my career.”
Gary Antuanne Russell (17-1, 17 KOs), the youngest of the fighting Russell brothers, will challenge WBA super lightweight champ Jose Valenzuela (14-2, 9 KOs) in the 12-round, 140-pound co-feature before Davis defends his belt against Roach. The Capitol Heights, Maryland, native is more familiar with Davis and Roach than most, as he, too, progressed through the American amateur system at the same time they did.
Russell, a strong southpaw himself, would not be the least bit surprised if Roach indeed defeated Davis in their PBC/Prime Video main event ($79.99). The 2016 U.S. Olympian also sees why Roach seems like he knows something maybe most of the boxing world doesn’t understand.
“I feel like that comes from a place of amateur pedigree,” Russell said regarding Roach’s confidence. “Now, the history with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Lamont Roach, as well as myself — we all came up in the same region and come from the same tournaments — so the familiarity is there. When you’re familiarized with a person’s style, the butterflies really go out the window because you can somewhat brace for impact or expect what to expect. You know what I mean? Lamont and Gervonta Davis have history. They fought before. At the tournaments, it was always one on one side of the bracket and [the other] one lost. They was always just shadowing and looking at each other’s fights. So, they are familiarized with each other’s styles. In the pros, you’re older, you’re smarter now. You’re kinda critiquing the things that you did wrong in the amateurs to be a better fighter.
“Granted, Tank does give away a lotta rounds. Every time he wins he gives four rounds away. Now, they say a professional fight don’t start until Round 4. I can give a head nod to that. I can second that notion. But some fights, you cannot allow that to happen. You cannot afford to give rounds away. If you’re not gonna knock him out guaranteed, sometimes it can be dangerous for you to give that many rounds away. Lamont Roach, he’s in shape, he’s focused and he’s gonna have a game plan that will allow him to survive if Tank doesn’t hop on him quick enough, hit the gas enough.”
