Jake Paul had Gervonta Davis fight derailed by Lamont Roach as negotiation details emerge
Jake Paul was reportedly in negotiations to face Gervonta Davis this year. However, the fight was derailed by ‘Tank’s’ contentious draw with Lamont Roach. Talks collapsed over a fight between Paul and Davis The plan was for Davis and Paul to meet in an exhibition bout in the summer. They wouldn’t have been able to get the fight sanctioned professionally due to the massive weight disparity between the pair. Davis competes at lightweight (135lbs), and has operated as low as super featherweight (130lbs), while Paul is a natural cruiserweight, who recently tipped the scales at 227lbs for his controversial heavyweight clash with Mike Tyson in November. According to esteemed boxing journalist Dan Rafael, talks were broken off by Davis’ side after the WBA lightweight champion activated the one-sided rematch clause in his contract with Roach. Had Davis beaten Roach we would have likely seen the Paul fight next. But the Baltimore banger was held to a draw by Roach in a clash that wasn’t short of controversy. In the ninth round, Davis took a knee after absorbing a grazing jab before making his way over to his corner to have debris wiped from his eyes. By the letter of the law, a knockdown should have been scored by referee Steve Willis yet the experienced official bizarrely allowed the action to resume after breaking off his count. In the end, the bout was declared a majority draw with scorecards of 115-113 Davis and 114-114, 114-114 even. If Roach had been awarded a 10-8 round in the ninth he would have won the fight on points. The contentious draw derailed the Paul vs Davis fight plansGETTY An appeal to overturn the result was lodged by Roach’s team in the immediate aftermath but the New York State Athletic Commission chose to uphold the result as there were three full rounds left after the referee’s ruling, making it impossible to determine how Davis would have reacted. Paul was in attendance to watch the action unfold in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and was there strictly on business. But his plans have been put on hold, with a Davis-Roach rematch now being planned for either June 21 at the T-Mobile Area in Las Vegas or June 28 in either Atlanta or Miami. The idea for Jake’s crossover clash with Davis stemmed from his brother Logan Paul‘s exhibition with first-ballot Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather in 2021. Logan weighed in at 189.5lbs while Mayweather was 34.5lbs lighter at 155lbs. A similar agreement would have been struck for Davis vs Paul. Follow talkBOXING on social media talkBOXING is now on Twitter and Facebook. Follow us on social media for big breaking boxing news, exclusive interviews and the best bits from our talkBOXING YouTube show. Like our Facebook page HERE Follow us on Twitter HERE Sign up for our WhatsApp channel HERE
Jake Paul was reportedly in negotiations to face Gervonta Davis this year.
However, the fight was derailed by ‘Tank’s’ contentious draw with Lamont Roach.
The plan was for Davis and Paul to meet in an exhibition bout in the summer.
They wouldn’t have been able to get the fight sanctioned professionally due to the massive weight disparity between the pair.
Davis competes at lightweight (135lbs), and has operated as low as super featherweight (130lbs), while Paul is a natural cruiserweight, who recently tipped the scales at 227lbs for his controversial heavyweight clash with Mike Tyson in November.
According to esteemed boxing journalist Dan Rafael, talks were broken off by Davis’ side after the WBA lightweight champion activated the one-sided rematch clause in his contract with Roach.
Had Davis beaten Roach we would have likely seen the Paul fight next.
But the Baltimore banger was held to a draw by Roach in a clash that wasn’t short of controversy.
In the ninth round, Davis took a knee after absorbing a grazing jab before making his way over to his corner to have debris wiped from his eyes.
By the letter of the law, a knockdown should have been scored by referee Steve Willis yet the experienced official bizarrely allowed the action to resume after breaking off his count.
In the end, the bout was declared a majority draw with scorecards of 115-113 Davis and 114-114, 114-114 even.
If Roach had been awarded a 10-8 round in the ninth he would have won the fight on points.
An appeal to overturn the result was lodged by Roach’s team in the immediate aftermath but the New York State Athletic Commission chose to uphold the result as there were three full rounds left after the referee’s ruling, making it impossible to determine how Davis would have reacted.
Paul was in attendance to watch the action unfold in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and was there strictly on business.
But his plans have been put on hold, with a Davis-Roach rematch now being planned for either June 21 at the T-Mobile Area in Las Vegas or June 28 in either Atlanta or Miami.
The idea for Jake’s crossover clash with Davis stemmed from his brother Logan Paul‘s exhibition with first-ballot Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather in 2021.
Logan weighed in at 189.5lbs while Mayweather was 34.5lbs lighter at 155lbs.
A similar agreement would have been struck for Davis vs Paul.
