by Keith Idec
GERVONTA DAVIS’ return to the ring has been delayed a little longer.
Boxing News has learned that March 1 is the new targeted date for Davis to face Lamont Roach in the main event of a “PBC On Prime” pay-per-view show. The 30-year-old Davis, one of boxing’s biggest stars in the United States, initially intended to defend his WBA lightweight title against Roach on December 14 at Toyota Center in Houston.
Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) has insisted on fighting Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs) in Houston, though the show seemingly would be more successful commercially in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area because Davis is from Baltimore and Roach resides in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, just outside of the U.S. capital. Toyota Center, the home of the NBA’s Houston franchise, is unavailable March 1 because the Rockets are scheduled to play Sacramento there that night.
Assuming Premier Boxing Champions founder Al Haymon can convince Davis to fight Roach somewhere other than Houston, their 12-round, 135-pound championship clash will take place four weeks after David Benavidez and David Morrell Jr. headline the first “PBC On Prime” pay-per-view show of 2025. The high-stakes, 12-round light heavyweight battle between Phoenix’s Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and the Cuban-born Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) is set to take place February 1, probably at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Despite reports posted to the contrary, Haymon never considered packaging the Davis-Roach and Benavidez-Morrell matches as part of the same pay-per-view show.
Davis has invited criticism for fighting Roach, a rival who owns the WBA 130-pound championship. Roach must move up five pounds for the opportunity to face Davis, yet a more disciplined Davis officially weighed in at 133½ pounds for his last fight, an eighth-round knockout of Frank Martin (18-1, 12 KOs) on June 15 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The left-handed knockout artist also pushed to finally fight rival Vasiliy Lomachenko next before Davis was forced to turn his attention toward another opponent. Their handlers nearly completed a deal over the summer for them to fight November 2 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, only to have Ukraine’s Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) inform his promoter, Bob Arum, that the 36-year-old three-weight world champion isn’t certain if he will box again.