NEW YORK – At 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, approximately 45 minutes after he was advertised to be in the ring for his media workout, Gervonta Davis finally walked into Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, New York.
Wearing pink sweatpants and a hoodie pulled over a Yankees cap, “Tank” stretched and wiped the sleep from his eyes as he waited to speak with Premier Boxing Champions host Miguel Flores. After a few minutes, Davis stepped out of the ring and disappeared onto the streets of the DUMBO district, without throwing a single punch or speaking directly to reporters.
With Davis having already held a media workout last week in Washington, D.C., where he also held training camp – and with weigh-ins about 48 hours away – it’s understandable why someone in a high-stakes fight wouldn’t want to work out for the public.
The WBA lightweight titleholder Davis promises there will be far more to see this Saturday when he faces Lamont Roach Jnr at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The fight will air live on pay-per-view, with Amazon Prime and PPV.com carrying the fight.
“You’ll see fireworks,” said Davis, 30-0 (28 KOs). “I’m sharp, fast and explosive. Lamont is sharp, too. It’s going to be a banger, and the fans will be the true winners this Saturday night.”
Davis, 30, of Baltimore, will be fighting at Barclays Center for the fourth time – but for the first time in nearly three years. He says it’s a welcome return for him to the venue where he won his first world title, stopping Jose Pedraza in seven rounds to win the IBF junior lightweight title in 2017.
He says he wants to be more active in 2025 than he was in 2024, when he fought just once, knocking out Frank Martin in eight rounds last June. The vision, he says, is to fight three times in 2025; Davis hasn’t had three fights inside a calendar year since 2019.
His opponent, Roach, 25-1-1 (10 KOs), of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, is the current WBA junior lightweight titleholder, though he is moving up in weight for this fight. Like Davis, Roach hasn’t fought since last June. He is riding a six-fight winning streak since his lone pro loss, to Jamel Herring, a southpaw – like Davis – in 2019.
Roach, by contrast, put on the longest public workout of all the boxers at Wednesday’s event, completing two rounds on the pads as his father/trainer Lamont Roach Snr looked on.
“Roach is in for a rude awakening, for sure. He’s trying to psyche himself up, but it comes down to skill,” said Davis.
“Whoever has the better skill that night is gonna be the victorious person.”
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for krikya360.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at .