In recent months it has emerged that Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis would be making a second appearance of the year during December but now the man in the opposing corner has been officially confirmed.
Davis was upgraded from WBA (Regular) lightweight champion to full world champion late last year and made a first defence of his 135lb crown when he halted Frank Martin with one of the knockouts of the year back in June.
Since then, ‘Tank’ has been linked with a plethora of names but unification bouts against either Shakur Stevenson (WBC champion) or Vasyl Lomachenko (IBF champion) have stood out as the most attractive – both to Davis and boxing fans around the globe.
Yet, Stevenson appears to be tied up in a showdown with mandatory challenger William Zepeda, whilst ‘Loma’ has flat out refused to face the Baltimore-based power-puncher due to a lack of ‘motivation’.
As a result, Davis has been left searching for a suitable opponent for his December date, which could see David Benavidez Jr. appear on the undercard, and recent rumours suggested that WBA super-featherweight champion Lamont Roach would be the man to step up in weight and accept the challenge.
Today, the WBA have officially announced that they have granted Roach with special permission to move up to 135lbs and face Davis, outlining that he would have five days to decide whether to continue campaigning at super-featherweight or permanently move up to lightweight and keep his title – should he be successful against the self-proclaimed ‘face of boxing’.
“The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee has granted special permission to super featherweight world champion Lamont Roach Jr. to move up in class to face Gervonta Davis for the lightweight championship on December 14.
“NoXcuse Boxing Promotions sent the formal request on September 13, which was received by the committee to be considered and consulted with the team of Albert Batyrgaziev, who is the mandatory 130 lbs. challenger.
“After the respective analysis and based on the internal rules of the organization, it was decided to grant the request to Roach under certain conditions.
“If Roach beats Davis in the fight, he will be given five days to send his decision to the WBA on which of the two titles he will keep and defend. On the other hand, if he were to lose the bout, he will be required to fight the official 130-pound challenger within 120 days of the Davis fight.”
The card will take place on Amazon Prime Video PPV on December 14th, with whispers that David Benavidez’s now confirmed showdown with Jesse Hart will take place as the highlight of the undercard.
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