'I Should've Won Without The Knockdown'

03/02/2025 09:00 AM

Roach was one point away from beating Davis, a point he should have gotten after 'Tank' took a knee. But in the eyes of the challenger, he did enough even without the uncalled knockdown.

Lamont Roach Jr. was in decent spirits following his majority draw with Gervonta "Tank" Davis ... you almost wouldn't know he got screwed out of a win earlier in the night.

Davis was a -1800 favorite coming into his WBA lightweight title defense against Roach, but "Tank's" low output and a game performance from Roach almost resulted in him losing the first fight of his career. He should have lost if the referee had properly deducted a point in the 9th round when Davis took a knee. Judges would end up scoring it a majority draw, 115-113 for Davis, 114-114, and 114-114 (see full fight highlights here).

During the post-fight press conference Roach said he felt like he'd done enough to win even without the point deduction from the knee.

"Obviously, I wanna go back and watch it, but clearly in there, man, I thought I won," he told the assembled media. "I thought I did enough to get the victory over a spectacular fighter. I told y'all from the beginning that I got the skills to pay the motherf—ing bills. I've been telling y'all that. And I'm just glad I got to show it, honestly."

"I appreciate the true boxing media, some guys that didn't count me out. So that's just how I feel, man. I think I won. And I can't wait to do it again. I can't wait to dance again."

"Tank" started the fight slow, giving Roach a chance to take some early rounds. By the middle of the fight it seemed like he was taking over, but Roach flipped the script in the 8th and upped the pressure, taking every round remaining on our scorecard. As for the uncounted knockdown in the 9th? Davis said he had hair product burning his eye, which is why he took the knee. Roach said the rules don't care.

"Look, I ain't the ref," he said. "If he had to wipe sweat out of his eye, he had to wipe sweat out of his eye. But the rules do state if he voluntary to takes a knee, then that's an automatic count. But it is what it is. I wasn't relying on that. I was relying on what I was doing in there. I think I was taking control. I think I was landing more shots. I think I was landing more power shots. And I thought I was doing my thing. So I'm not really that frustrated about that. But if that was locked down, I would win the majority decision."

"I thought I should've won without that being counted a knockdown."

Roach definitely put on a performance that would have been talked about even without the controversial non-call.

"Once I took his best shot, I was like, 'Oh, yeah, it's time to roll,'" Roach recalled. "Walking into the ring, I felt like everybody had me f—ed up, including him. And I think that's how I fought too. I got into a groove early. I ain't gonna lie, I was feeling it from the jump. I was on timing today. I was on timing for sure."

An immediate rematch to settle the score makes the most sense, but this is boxing. Gervonta Davis has already said he's got other plans for next. Fortunately for Lamont Roach, he has the eye of another top boxer in Shakur Stevenson, who said he'd let Roach challenge for his WBC lightweight title.

"That's why I love him," Roach said of Stevenson. "Genuinely speaking, man, that's what I wanna do. I wanna fight the best fights. You know, like I said, hopefully, we can get the rematch. If not, hopefully, well, more than likely, we can get in there with Shakur because we already talked. And it's all about showing who's the best. It's all about good competition, and that's when I'm on. I'm in here trying to prove that I'm the best."