Steven A. Smith is upset that Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis has decided to defend his WBA lightweight title against super featherweight Lamont Roach in their next fight on March 1st at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Commentator Stephen A believes Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) should be fighting guys at 135 or 140, rather than picking a smaller, weaker fighter like Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs).
Protection of investments
Fans have the same argument, but that doesn’t stop Tank from pulling this move. There are enough people willing to buy his PPV events for him to continue making mismatches like this.
Former Mayweather-promoted Tank Davis was brought with him to a low yield way to fight safe fights, look great against overmatched opposition and ultimately make good money, but not consistently huge money. For his management, he was like an oil well, guarded pump oil slowly not to dry out.
“I think Roach is too small, and that’s my problem. I’m not questioning his skills or anything like that,” said Stephen A. Smith Sean Zitteltalking about his view of Gervont Davis defending his WBA lightweight title against Lamont Roach at 130 pounds on March 1st.
“It was similar to Frank Martin. This guy comes in there and you have 18 fights. I remember watching their press conference before the fight, and he annoyed Gervonta Davis so much. I knew Gervonta would come for him, and he sure did. He was going straight for him from the first round.
“I remember what he said, and it really hit home. Gervonta is a smart guy, bro. He said, “You really, really should have waited. You don’t have enough experience. You really should have waited and bided your time before coming to me,” and that’s what Gervonta Davis told him. He was right. He was absolutely right,” said Stephen A.
Smith needs to understand that Frank Martin is 29 years old, he fought Artem Harutyunyan in his previous fight before the Tank fight, and he couldn’t afford to turn down a mega-payday against him. If Martin has big problems against Artem, he won’t wait three to five years to gain enough experience to fight Gervont. By then, the Baltimore native would be long retired, and Martin has won many times because he’s not that good.
“So here we are, fighting this guy Roach, and I’m like, ‘Isn’t this guy a junior lightweight (correction: super featherweight) moving up to lightweight?’ No, there is no (chance for him). That bothers me, and the reason it bothers me is because Gervonta is too big and too skilled to fight guys smaller than him.
“Gervonta can knock out the welterweights.” He can probably knock out a few mids, okay? Why are you fighting someone lesser? “The only time I approve of big champions fighting smaller guys is when you’re not known for your power,” Smith said.
Tank can’t knock out middleweights unless they’re lower-ranked fighters, and he doesn’t stop any of the quality welterweights.
If Stephen is talking about a paper champion at 147, like Mario Barrios. Yes, Tank has already proven he can stop the guy, but he hasn’t beaten anyone since moving up to 147, except for a very exhausted, rusty Yordenis Ugas.
“You’re basically using your superior skill set and showing against a smaller, faster guy that skills don’t dissipate. But if you’re a bigger guy and you’re obviously a powerful guy, that just puts someone at a distinct disadvantage, and I think that’s unfair.
“So that’s how I look at it, and that’s what bothers me about Gervonta fighting this guy. There’s Teofimo Lopez at 140. Fight that brother. You’re fighting someone your size or bigger,” Smith said.
Boxing business
This is an example of Smith’s discovery that he is only a casual fan with basic knowledge about sports. His forte is obviously basketball and football, not boxing.
It seems clear that Stephen A. fails to recognize how Tank Davis’ career has been orchestrated by his promoters and management. It wasn’t that he couldn’t fight top guys his size or bigger, it was just that there was too much risk. It was easier to fight low risk fights.
The former Mayweather-promoted Gervonta has been treading carefully since the beginning of his career and nothing has changed. He’s never fought 50-50, and he certainly won’t start now that he’s reportedly at the end with just three fights left before retirement.