Boxer Gervonta Davis blames hairdresser for poor performance after clinging onto title

Gervonta Davis blamed his hairdresser for his under-par performance in his world title fight against Lamont Roach Jr on Saturday night.

Davis, known for his savage knockout power, narrowly retained his WBA lightweight title after he was held to a controversial draw against Roach Jr in Brooklyn.

In the ninth round of their contest, Davis absorbed a left jab to the head, taking a knee immediately after with many observers feeling it should have been ruled a knockdown.

‘Tank’ was instead allowed to walk over to his corner with no standing count taking place, much to the confusion of everyone inside the Barclays Centre.

Prior to that, the Baltimore fighter was seen getting his faced wiped with a towel in his corner, later revealing ‘grease’ running from his braided hair was running down and ‘burning’ his eyes.

Had that moment where Davis’ knee touched the canvas in the ninth been ruled a knockdown, Roach Jr would surely have taken the lead on the judges’ scorecards, resulting in a new champion being crowned.

Explaining what happened in that decisive moment, Davis said post-fight: ‘I just got my hair done two days ago and she put grease in my s**t.

‘When you are sweating and s**t like that, the grease came into my face and it burnt my eyes.’

Boos then began to rain down from the New York crowd with Davis firing back: “Yo why you all booing like I’m talking b****t? This is real facts.

“Look at my hair, I just got my s*** done.

‘But it’s cool, they [the fans] they love you and then they hate you again.’

Saturday’s draw is the only blemish on Davis’ otherwise perfect record having knocked out 28 of his previous 30 opponents before last night.

Boxers have produced some wild excuses for poor performances over the years.

Deontay Wilder famously blamed his ringwalk costume after his devastating defeat to Tyson Fury in February 2020, insisting the pre-fight outfit was ‘too heavy’ and wore him out before the opening bell.

David Haye came up short in his world title bout against Wladimir Klitschko in 2011, later explaining he had broken his little toe in training before the fight. The Briton was labelled a ‘cry baby’ by legendary promoter Frank Warren.

More recently, British fighter Ohara Davies suggested his defeat to Ismael Barroso last year was partly due to his Las Vegas hotel ‘pumping extra oxygen in his room so that people can be there all day gambling and not be tired.’