Gervonta Davis stumbles past Lamont Roach as referee misses his cue
Plus, Paddy Donovan’s Belfast controversy and Subriel Matias returns
In a weekend of big fights, it was the officials who unwittingly stole the limelight on both sides of the pond. As Gervonta Davis’ supposedly routine evening reached the championship rounds, the WBA lightweight champion decided to suddenly excuse himself from the action and take a knee.
Playing it off as a routine activity, Gervonta was under increasing pressure from Lamont Roach. He wouldn’t have even considered taking a quick “Excuse me for a second, I’ll be right back” knee and stuck his head through the ropes for a face wipe if things were going his way. Davis should've been counted, at the time, or retrospectively. That mistake cost Roach the win.
Gervonta didn’t like being pushed back by someone who wasn’t intimidated, could take his power and fire back. Maybe Gervonta is a bit of a bully. Beating up lesser foes every 14-18 months doesn’t prepare you for hungry, motivated opposition. Like many of his contemporaries, Gervonta doesn’t fight often enough and when he does the standard has been lacking.
Referee Steve Willis is a solid official, mostly known for his meme-worthy facial expressions. Smiling, grimacing, contorting the features as the fighters go at it, this time Willis’ actions were no joke.
Being the third man (or woman) in the ring is a thankless task. If a referee goes unnoticed, they’ve done a good job. Making mistakes means they’ve failed to spot something, been too lenient or heavy-handed. They’ve become a part of the fight or even the main talking point. Being noticed is not a good thing.
Back in the ring, Lamont Roach certainly got himself noticed. Moving up in weight, ignoring the haters and naysayers that expected him to get blasted away, Roach is a champion and offered a champion’s performance.
Gervonta Davis has always passed the eye test for me. Power, punch accuracy, variation, patience, ring IQ, the ability to move opponents into the positions he wants them in: all boxes ticked. However, that eye test is starting to get strained, the vision blurry, as time passes and the resume creaks under pressure.
Davis is used to having things his own way. The promotion favours him, venues hand-picked and crowd advantage secured. Turning up late for press duties and treating people and situations with contempt come with the territory.
Micro-managing the referee, constantly chatting his way through the 12 rounds, are just the latest extension of his privilege. Roach arrived with no such favour and left the Barclays Center, New York, with a majority draw for his efforts.
A week after Shakur Stevenson sleepwalked through nine rounds with late sub Josh Padley in Riyadh, this was a major own goal by Davis who had the chance to come in and produce a statement.
Instead, the retirement talk he’s been coming off with lately left us with an undermotivated star whose lasting legacy is under threat.
Paddy Donovan disqualified in Belfast after Lewis Crocker controversy
Meanwhile, over in Belfast, where I was ringside on Saturday night, once the crowd brawls had settled down there was much to digest from the main event.
After eight rounds of one-way traffic, Lewis Crocker needed a way out of the fight and Paddy Donovan gave him one. The Matchroom-promoted ‘Point of Pride’ was supposed to separate two hungry, undefeated contenders from each other, with one moving upwards to world class and the other remaining around fringe levels, reconsidering his options.
While there was a winner and a loser, the actual truth is far murkier. Donovan was deducted two points and thrown out at the end of the eighth by trigger happy referee Marcus McDonnell who has previous form for unwelcome interventions into the narrative.
The raucous noise created by Belfast’s SSE Arena may have been so loud that Limerick’s Donovan missed the bell, or over excitement got the better of him.
As timid as Steve Willis was to make the knockdown call, should McDonnell have placed himself into the action a little more aggressively at the close of the eighth? Perhaps his refusal or inability to insert himself into the middle of the final combination caused our unfortunate ending.
Subriel Matias dishes out a beating in Puerto Rico
Boxing is better when a motivated Subriel Matias is involved. After making a string of quality fighters quit, the beast brought into his own hype and lost that edge. Liam Paro helped him lose his IBF world title as well.
Strangely, in these situations, that second defeat will probably make him more appealing and easier to match. Matias pounded Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela into submission in Puerto Rico on Saturday evening.
It was an eliminator for his old IBF belt at 140 pounds. That crown is currently being worn by Richardson Hitchins, who took it off Paro, who took it off Matias.
Stick the pair in New York, where Hitchins is from and where Matias could drum up plenty of Puerto Rican support. The style mesh is intriguing. Hitchins struggled with the pressure applied by Argentina’s Gustavo Lemos. Matias applies a similar pressure.
Matias’ two losses came to Liam Paro, an active mover, and Petros Ananyan who stepped off and out thought a listless Matias (understandably so, as he was still reeling from the Maxim Dadashev tragedy). The blueprint is there for Matias and Hitchins to thrive or struggle against each other.
Image Credits: PBC/Amazon Prime, Matchroom Boxing Promotional.
About Steve…
Current existence: Online editor at Boxing News Magazine.
Previous lives: Author (8 books), podcaster (500+ eps), scriptwriter for Motivedia channel, newspaper journalist, copywriter & educator.
Contact: stevenwellings1982@gmail.com
I have to say I was quite frustrated watching Donovan against Crocker. Donovan was by far the superior boxer but in my opinion he was leading with his head a lot and Marcus McDonnell gave him several warnings. The shot after the bell at the end of the eighth is debatable. I'm sure it was loud in there, but Donovan didn't have to risk that punch. In the next round Crocker was on his way out. A bizarre ending to quite a bizarre weekend on boxing. As for Matias, I wish Valenzuela was pulled out sooner - he took an unnecessarily long beating.