by Keith Idec
The uneven odds on his fight with Gervont “Tank” Davis motivated Lamont Roach even more than usual.
The handicappers have placed Davis as an ugly 16-1 favorite to defeat Roach in their VBA lightweight championship match on March 1 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Roach realizes a lot of people will be surprised if he upsets one of boxing’s biggest stars on Amazon Prime Video’s Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view.
Roach also admits Davis is not among those underestimating him ahead of their 12-round, 135-pound title bout. The Upper Marlborough, Md. native believes Davis chose him as his next opponent when IBF lightweight champion Vassily Lomachenko walked away from their deal to fight on November 2 because he wants a tough fight rather than a task as easy as as the odds suggest.
Davis, 30, and Roach, 29, fought twice as amateurs in 2011. They also sparred several times before and after Davis won those two fights, all before turning pro, and have followed each other’s careers closely as fighters from the “DMV”, the greater Washington, DC area.
Roach 25-1-1, (10 KOs) expressed his gratitude for this career-changing opportunity at a press conference Tuesday in Brooklyn. He also cautioned anyone who thinks Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) has anything but a big, tough fight ahead of him.
“Like (Davis) said, this is a hell of an opportunity,” Roach said. “You know what I’m saying?” So we will win it. Everyone knows what I come here to do. If you don’t, then shit, you’re in for a surprise. I know he won’t be surprised. I think he actually accepted this fight for the opponents and all this and all that. People were talking about a fight.
“I think he really took the fight because he knows I’m a dog and he wants to prove his skills against a dog. So, I’m going to show you what happens when two dogs enter the ring together. And I’ll be the one – obviously, I’ll be the one who comes out victorious. And, you know, I’m going to put on one hell of a show for you.”
Davis coyly predicted a ninth-round knockout, a result that Roach scoffed at. The powerful southpaw from Baltimore admitted that Roach, who is undefeated in 27 professional fights, has “sneaky power,” a trait Roach displayed when he knocked out Dominican southpaw Hector Luis Garcia 16-2, (10 KO, 3 NC ) in 12th round fight that Roach won by split decision in November 2023 to win the WBA super featherweight title at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas.
“Skill-wise, I bring a lot to the table,” Roach said. “I can adapt.” I can fight a variety of different styles. I’m tough, brave, smart, witty. Whatever the case may be, whatever I have to pull out of my bag of tricks to win, that’s what I’m going to do. … The others were either one-trick ponies or they just don’t have enough.”