It’s no secret that Gervonta Davis is the poster child for boxing. He is long considered the best of his generation, but that image came crashing down on March 1 in New York. ‘The Reaper’ defied all odds to not only take ‘Tank’ Davis to his limits but also, according to many, win the fight. But in reality, the fight had come to a majority draw, a first for Davis. Nobody in the previous 30 fights had managed to expose the holes in Davis’ armor.

This perhaps made him overlook Roach Jr. Nevertheless, the fight saw the 30-year-old perform his career worst. Davis’ fall signaled Roach Jr.’s rise in the sport. While the Washington native was known around serious boxing circles, to the wider public, he was just another fighter. That perception changed after the Davis fight, as he became the man who brought the powerful Gervonta Davis to his knees.

Remember how ‘Tank’ took a knee in the ninth round and then walked to his corner to wipe his face? Well, referee Steve Willis didn’t call the knee a knockdown, and he didn’t penalize the boxer. This was one of the biggest reasons why fans felt Roach should have won the fight instead of it going to a draw. But not all went in vain. His social media following skyrocketed, and fans and experts alike acknowledged his skills.

However, those aren’t the only things that have changed since the fight for Roach Jr. As per his own admission, “Bro, literally, overnight [everything] changed. I gotta walk around with security. I walk around with my people… like it’s crazy. I can’t do the same stuff that I used to do. I can’t go to the grocery store. I can’t go nowhere, bro. I can’t do [anything] and it’s crazy. It’s just crazy,”

“I know that that’s what this come with if I get to the level that I’m supposed to be. But when it really happened to you, like you sit back and look at it like, ‘Damn like this really happened off of this one performance. I’ve been working my a– off my whole life, but after this one performance my whole life changed.”

While Lamont Roach Jr. is enjoying the fruits of his labor, he has also revealed what’s stopping a rematch from happening.

Lamont Roach Jr. implies that Gervonta Davis’ side is slowing down the rematch

Since the controversial ending to the first fight earlier this month, fans are talking about a rematch between the two boxers. They want to see who can ultimately win. Unlike the first time, there’s quite the excitement and anticipation surrounding the bout. Despite that, no official word on the rematch has come to light.

Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix previously tweeted about it: “A Tank-Roach rematch could happen as early as June 21st in Las Vegas, sources told @SInow. Both sides now committed to running it back.”

Lamont Roach came extremely close to defeating lightweight superstar Gervonta Davis earlier this month.

The 29-year-old from Washington, D.C. challenged the WBA lightweight champion on March 1, putting on a career best performance only for the fight to be declared a split draw after 12 competitive rounds at the Barclays Center in New York.

‘Tank’ Davis sensationally took a knee during the ninth round of the contest, however this was not actually ruled to be a knockdown by Steve Willis, much to the disappointment of Roach and his team, who have spoken profusely about this incident and even sought to have the result changed – a petition denied by the New York State Athletic Commission.

It is expected that a rematch between the pair will take place at some point this summer, although an official announcement is yet to be made.

Speaking on the It Is What It Is podcast, Roach said he had signed for the second fight and was asked to give an honest assessment of Davis’ infamous punching power. In response, he recalled that he asked himself, “that’s all he got?” when in the ring.

“Not necessarily, but I do understand why he knocked people out. He very accurate, that’s what he do. So when he hit me like flush, when he punched me in my face I was like ‘oh that’s all he got?’, because he tried to punch me hard.”

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