Gervonta “Tank” Davis is officially set to return as prior reports suggested, as he’ll defend his WBA lightweight title against Lamont Roach on Dec. 14 in Houston.
Roach (25-1-1, 10 KO) will be coming up from 130 lbs, where he is the reigning WBA titleholder, having beaten Hector Luis Garcia last November. Roach made one successful defense this past June, beating Feargal McCrory in a ProBox main event from Washington, DC.
The 29-year-old Roach has won six straight overall following a loss to Jamel Herring in a WBO title fight back in 2019.
While Roach is a quality fighter, it would be dishonest to say this is what anyone was hoping to see for Davis (30-0, 28 KO), who is one of the sport’s biggest box office stars but has been accused repeatedly of avoiding true top opposition.
Davis, 29, has fought once this year, stopping Frank Martin in the eighth round on June 15 in Las Vegas.
The fight will headline a PBC pay-per-view from Prime Video. It is expected that Alberto Puello (23-0, 10 KO) will defend his WBC super lightweight title against Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KO) on the undercard.