The New York Athletic Commission is taking a deeper look at the footage from Saturday’s fight between Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Lamont Roach after a controversial call in the ninth round ultimately affected the outcome.
The moment in question happened when Davis voluntarily took a knee, which could have been scored a knockdown, with referee Steve Willis actually starting a mandatory 10-count as the WBA lightweight champion went to his corner to get his face wiped by his coaches. Willis ultimately decided not to penalize Davis for the knockdown, which would have resulted in a point deduction on the scorecards.
Davis later explained that “grease” from his hair was dripping down into his eyes and he didn’t want to risk taking damage in the fight so he effectively took a timeout to address the issue. The decision not to penalize Davis cost Roach the win with the fight ending in a majority draw after two judges scored the fight 114-114. With the point deduction, Roach would have earned a majority decision win.
On Monday, the commission issued a statement to MMA Fighting regarding the controversial moment.
“At this time, the New York State Athletic Commission is reviewing the matter involving Saturday’s match up between Lamont Roach and Gervonta Davis,” commission officials said in the statement. “During the round in question, following the commission’s request for the replay video, there was a technical issue preventing the commission from receiving it within the allotted time for review. Therefore, the referee’s in-ring decision was relied upon and the fight continued.
“The commission is dedicated to preserving the integrity of combative sports and is committed to working with all promotions and production teams — on behalf of the athletes, officials, and fans – to ensure technical issues do not occur in the future that prevent the delivery of ringside instant replay feeds to the commission’s officials when needed.”
It appears a technical issue stopped commission officials from reviewing the footage in real time and making a decision on Davis potentially being penalized for taking a knee. With the commission reviewing the situation, there’s no word if any pending decision could retroactively alter the outcome of the fight.
While it was a disappointing outcome for Roach, he’s already adamant about getting a rematch with Davis after he entered the fight as a massive underdog and nearly pulling off a massive upset.
Davis has already said he’s open to the rematch with the still undefeated fighter dropping a message on Twitter stating “And say no more. I’m pushing for the rematch … the rematch can be soon too, like end of May.”
