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Gervonta Davis reacted to the news that he will become the sole WBA lightweight titleholder with a surprising rejection.

As with all WBA ‘regular’ champions, those holding the secondary strap automatically become the complete ruler when the ‘super’ champion vacates.

However, it seems Davis isn’t one for accepting belts without winning them inside the ring.

Gervonta Davis responds to WBA title elevation

He told the WBA: “I don’t want that s***!” in response to an occurrence that has probably already happened.

A swift look at the WBA rankings still shows Devin Haney as the main champion. But that is set to change after “The Dream” confirmed his intention to relinquish all the lightweight belts in his possession.

Haney had been stripped by the WBC previously despite holding undisputed status. Shakur Stevenson won that crown in a drab clash with Edwin De Los Santos last week in Las Vegas.

That leaves the IBF, WBA, and WBO, which – once Davis is elevated, will only leave two vacant titles.

Gervonta-Davis

WBO and IBF lightweight titles

The IBF could announce its version over the next few days. Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. are heading towards a massive match-up in Australia for the strap.

WBN also understands that the WBO could be on board with the fight. Lomachenko is the number one contender with the body. However, they have a decision to make as Kambosos is currently unrated at 135 with the organization.

As for Davis, his next fight remains up in the air following his victory over Ryan Garcia. A subsequent spell in prison has left Davis content on the sidelines.

Al Haymon is still finalizing the details of a new TV deal, potentially with Amazon Prime. Therefore, Davis must decide whether he’s on board with possibly campaigning on some Amazon Prime paid platform moving forward.

Whether that’s with a WBA title defense at 135 or a move up to 140 remains to be seen.

Matchroom Boxing is back in force this weekend. After hosting Katie Taylor’s instant classic victory over Chantelle Cameron in Dublin last weekend, Eddie Hearn’s promotional outfit moves up to Belfast this Saturday night. Local hero Michael Conlan meets Jordan Gill in a must-win main event for both fighters.

The Sportsman spoke with Eddie via Matchroom to get the lowdown on Taylor’s win, the Belfast card, the heavyweight mega-show featuring Anthony Joshua and how Matchroom’s 2024 is looking.

Katie Taylor’s victory over Chantelle Cameron last weekend

An epic event, epic fight, epic occasion. The atmosphere, the momen;t it’s going to be looked back on for a long time to come. I think the biggest moment of her career so far. Chantelle was excellent. It was an excellent fight. Katie performed out of her skin really, as the underdog, to get a deserved victory. Massive night for Irish boxing. When you look at the 5-050 fights if you’d like Gary Cully, Paddy Donovan, and of course Katie Taylor, the Irish came through. Which was very different to earlier this year. So a big big night for Irish boxing.

Taylor fighting at Croke Park in Dublin

Anthony and Deontay

Talks are ongoing. I believe there’s some even today. There’s different arenas and stadiums that we can look to. But obviously, Croke Park has always been the dream for Katie. We’ll have to see how feasible that is. We’ve just got to plan out a schedule for 2024. Will there be a fight before Croke Park? Will we wait for spring or summer particularly in Croke Park? Do we go to the Aviva? There’s loads of different things to look at. And obviously, who will the opponent be? But we’re only few days after the fight, let the excitement settle and let the head settle. Then start planning for the future.

Matchroom in 2024

We’ve been pretty good at mapping out that schedule, sort of three, four months in advance for fight fans. That’s really what we want to try and do. So as we move into December, we want to get that schedule up and running as soon as possible. Certainly for Day of Reckoning fight week at the latest really But all of the work now is obviously (to) finish a tremendous run to the end of the year but also start planning for some big nights in the new year.

Anthony Joshua in camp with Ben Davison ahead of the Otto Wallin fight

I’m catching up with him tomorrow. (He’s) been quite quiet, just working away, happy there Knows what he needs to do against Otto Wallin and it’s a very tough fight. Short notice, but confident and excited to see him perform in December.

Jarrell Miller, who once came close to fighting Anthony Joshua, does not think that Otto Wallin will be an easy fight for the Brit.

On December 23, Joshua will fight Wallin on the same card as Deontay Wilder vs Joseph Parker in Saudi Arabia.

Wallin has a record of 26-1 and he has recorded some impressive victories over fighters such as Murat Gassiev and Dominic Breazeale.

But, perhaps the most impressive fight of his career came in his only defeat when he pushed Tyson Fury all the way, leaving him with a nasty cut, before losing on points.

Wallin is also a southpaw, the same stance as Oleksandr Usyk, who Joshua struggled with in their two fights.

As such, Miller believes that Wallin could present a tough test for Joshua, telling SecondsOut: “I feel honestly that ‘AJ’ might have made a mistake with picking Otto Wallin.

“Even though Otto Wallin is not a one-punch knockout kind of guy, he is durable, he comes to fight, he is not a quitter and it is going to be a tough fight for ‘AJ’. I don’t think that it is going to be easy, at all.”

Miller continued: “The mental mind state that ‘AJ’ has, is he going to hold up?

“When he fights in the UK, he has a little more oomph in his step a little bit, but when he fights outside of the UK, we don’t get the same fiery person, the playing ground is going to be a little bit more even out in Saudi.

“I wish all of the luck to Otto Wallin, I want to really be the one to knock out ‘AJ’, but may the best man win, it is what it is.”

With that being said, what Miller says about AJ has to be taken with a pinch of salt, as the pair share a mutual dislike for each other.

They were supposed to fight back in 2019 before it was cancelled due to Miller testing positive for multiple banned substances, but this was not before both men had a chance to start a beef.

They almost came to blows in the build-up and even more recently at the press conference for the December 23 event that Miller will also be fighting on, they threw a few insults back and forth.

Terence Crawford is nearing the end of his Hall-of-Fame career, and he believes he’s in a position to pursue megafights. That means saying no to some young and hungry guys looking to build their name with a win over the 36-year-old legend.

Crawford, who was recently stripped of his IBF welterweight title, was asked by a pool reporters if he would face Jaron Ennis, the man awarded the belt when Crawford didn’t face him in a mandatory bout.

“Listen, like I said. Jaron is in one place, and I’m in another. I’m looking for mega fights right now, and right now, that’s not a mega fight,” Crawford told a group of reporters Friday. “That’s my standpoint on it. I’m looking to fight guys like Canelo Alvarez. That’s pretty much it, man, and a rematch with Spence, and that’s it. That’s over with for me.”

Ennis is 31-0 with 28 KOs. However, he is only 26 years old, hasn’t quite broken into the top tier of fighters in the world, and is not among the top draws in the sport.

Terence Crawford

Crawford would be a heavy favorite over Ennis, but there isn’t much for the Omaha, Nebraska native to gain. Crawford is still undefeated and atop many pound-for-pound lists in boxing–including my most recent entry on the subject.

At this stage of his career, he has proven to be a champion and an all-time great. He is wise to chase fights that will continue to bring him generational wealth. Those kinds of fights include a fight with Canelo Alvarez or the rematch with Errol Spence at 154 pounds. Crawford scored a decisive TKO win over Spence in July.

The fight had a rematch clause that has been executed. However, the date for the second meeting hasn’t been finalized. A fight with Canelo would likely have to take place at 168 pounds, and it is probably the only bout within reason that Crawford would come in as the B-side at the negotiation table.

Even still, he’d stand to make a career-high payday for the fight, and he’d have a chance to possibly cement himself as the best fighter of his generation with a win. With those options on the table, it’s easy to see why he wouldn’t be interested in fighting Ennis.

Gervonta Davis’s WBA belts don’t matter to him despite Devin Haney’s announcement.

‘The Dream’ is currently slated to return to the boxing ring early next month to face Regis Prograis. That will be Haney’s first up at super lightweight as he attempts to become a two-weight division champion. While that might happen, he won’t be holding gold in the weight class below on fight night.

Earlier this week, the undisputed lightweight champion announced his decision to vacate the titles. At the time, Haney stated that he previously hoped to unify the titles with Davis’ WBA lightweight title. However, the two couldn’t reach an agreement on a deal.

Gervonta Davis

That being said, it’s clear that Gervonta Davis doesn’t care much about the WBA gold. On social media, ‘Tank’ reacted to news that he would be upgraded to WBA (Super) lightweight champion. He famously won the gold back in 2021 with a knockout win over Mario Barrios.

Since then, Davis has defended the WBA (Regular) lightweight title three times. However, while he might be upgraded to the (Super) lightweight champion soon, he doesn’t want it. In fact, he stated as much during a recent post on X. The tweet read:

After a thunderous body shot by Gervonta Davis in the seventh round of their April fight, Ryan Garcia decided to call it a day. And gradually in the wake of his loss to Davis, Garcia move up to 140 lbs. But now, after seven months, Garcia feels Davis is not better than ‘KingRy’ in any way.

Likewise, ahead of the bout against Oscar Duarte on December 2nd, Garcia named the boxers who would defeat Davis. In addition, he even accused ‘Tank’ of cheating when they met in April. Here is what Garcia said.

Ryan Garcia accuses Gervonta Davis of “cheating” in their April fight

Ryan Garcia still holds the catchweight [136 lbs] where fought Gervonta Davis and the rehydration clause imposed on him accountable for the loss against ‘Tank’. As per Garcia, the mentioned stipulations gave ‘Tank’ an advantage against ‘KingRy’ on the night of 22nd April. Likewise, Garcia, who suffered a 7th-round KO loss to

Tank’s alright. He’s not better than me. I don’t care that he beat me; I don’t care what nobody says, he’s not better than me. He caught me on the worst night I could ever have and gave me all those stipulations and all the things he could think of to get an advantage. It’s borderline cheating and sh*t,” Garcia told Boxing News.

Additionally, Garcia claimed that although Davis is a counter-puncher, he doesn’t throw a lot of punches. As a result, he was confident of beating ‘Tank’ in their potential rematch at 140 lbs. In addition, he even claimed that the likes of Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney would defeat ‘Tank’ too. “I’ll beat him next time. Somebody’s gonna beat him. Devin Haney would beat him. Myself, when I get my rematch at 140lbs, would beat him. Shakur [Stevenson] would beat him,” added Garcia who bantered with Shakur recently.

Gervonta Tank Davis

In this context, Garcia believed his new trainer Derrick James would help him realize his true potential.

Garcia is confident James would help him bring “something special” at 140 lbs

With Derrick James’ guidance, Ryan believes he has improved his technique. According to Garcia, James has also helped the former boost his footwork and basics. “He really wanted to emphasise technique. Making sure that my footwork was on point; for the first couple of months we were just all doing technique,” revealed Garcia.

‘Tank’ Davis, branded the latter’s victory a result of cheating.

As a result, Garcia hoped he would exhibit something special against Duarte on December 2nd. “You’re gonna see something special come December 2nd, and I’m gonna make an example to the 140 division,” Garcia concluded saying. With that said, what do you make of Garcia’s statements on Davis? let us know in the comments.

 

Re-emerging heavyweight contender Jarrell Miller has said that Anthony Joshua may have made a grave mistake by selecting Otto Wallin as his December opponent.

Joshua is continuing his comeback to the peak of the heavyweight division, bouncing back from successive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk with wins over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius in his two 2023 outings.

The two-time unified champion will be operating with a fourth different cornerman in five fights following the appointment of Ben Davison, who guided Tyson Fury to a gruelling points victory over Wallin back in 2019. It’s understood he plans to return to Derrick James thereafter.

There are plenty who believe that the tricky Swede could be a real banana peel for Joshua, escpacially following on from his impressive win over Murat Gassiev.

One of those sceptics is fierce rival, ‘Big Baby’ Miller, who told Seconds Out that ‘AJ’ is in for a tough night at the office.

Miller takes on Daniel Dubois on that same card, which takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 23.

Eddie Hearn, believes that the Biritish-Nigerian will have his first bout of 2024 against Deontay Wilder as long as they both win their respective fights on December 23.

Joshua will headline against Otto Wallin two days before Christmas in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Wilder will take on Joseph Parker on the same card. Should both Joshua and Wilder win their respective fights, it would set up one of the most exciting heavyweight matchups in the sport.

Head of Matchroom Sport, Hearn, had previously suggested that his client could explore a potential vacant IBF title shot against top-rated Filip Hrgovic of Croatia.

The IBF belt is currently held by unified champion Oleksandr Usyk, who also holds the WBO and WBA belts and the Ukrainian will put his three belts on the line against WBC champion Tyson Fury on February 17 in Riyadh.

Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder
Hearn believes that if an undisputed champion is crowned in the fight, the belts are likely to be seperated again because of the mandatory demands of the sanctioning bodies, especially that of the IBF.

In that scenario, Joshua facing off against Hrgovic for the IBF title could be appealing as it would afford the 34-year-old the chance to become a three-time heavyweight champion.

However, now Hearn feels that there would be too much momentum for Joshua vs Wilder in that time frame to consider any other options.

“It’s very likely that after Fury vs Usyk 1, the belts will fragment, particularly the IBF. If that fragments and Joshua beats Wallin on Dec. 23rd, it would be Hrgovic against Joshua. But by then it’s very likely that Joshua vs Wilder could be contracted and probably will be contracted,” Hearn told Boxing Social.

“We won’t be able to U-turn at that point. We’re full steam ahead trying to make the Wilder fight. WBC final eliminator? If that’s what it’s called. I would just call it the biggest fight in boxing at that point. When that fight happens and the only way that fight happens is if they both win on December 23rd on the same card. And if they do win on the same card, on the same night, that fight is the biggest fight in boxing.”

Zhilei Zhang believes that Tyson Fury would not be able to cope with his power.

Throughout his career, Fury has found himself down on the canvas, but has always managed to get up.

First against Neven Pajkic, then against Steve Cunningham, he was dropped four times across three fights by Deontay Wilder and most recently ‘The Gypsy King’ was floored by former UFC heavyweight champion and boxing debutante Francis Ngannou.

With that being said, Fury is still undefeated, but Zhang is confident that against him, the Brit would not hear the final bell.

After watching Fury’s fight against Ngannou, Zhang told the Town Bizznizz sports and ent YouTube channel: “I think Tyson Fury probably never trained for the Ngannou fight. It was not the Fury we know, it was a totally different person.

“If you look at his career, he’s got hit, he’s got dropped, and my punches are not a joke.

“When my punches land, it’s going to be a disaster for him.”

This comes as following his duo of knockout victories over Joe Joyce earlier this year, Zhang now wants to take on the big names in the heavyweight division, including Fury.

“I always wanted to get the big four names,” Zhang continued. “Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder but they don’t want to fight me. They are running away from me.”

Unfortunately for Zhang, it may not be a case of the other heavyweights running from him, rather there is just a long list of potential opponents and they are all otherwise occupied.

Joshua’s next fight will come against Otto Wallin, while Wilder will take on Joseph Parker on the same card on December 23 in Saudi Arabia, with a view that should they emerge victorious, both AJ and ‘The Bronze Bomber’ will clash next year.

Meanwhile, Fury and Usyk are due to battle it out for the undisputed heavyweight world titles on February 17.

And then the obvious next step would be for the winner of that fight to go head-to-head with the winner of a potential Joshua vs Wilder clash.

Although, boxing is notoriously unpredictable, so Zhang will be hoping that somewhere along the line one of these bouts doesn’t go to plan and he can secure a dream fight.

Gervonta Davis stands as a formidable force in the lightweight division, establishing his dominance through a string of consecutive knockout victories. As the WBA lightweight champion, his prowess is characterized by explosive power and a fierce fighting style that has allowed him to assert control over the division for a long period of time. Approaching nearly a decade in professional boxing, Davis has not only demonstrated his skill in the ring but has also amassed considerable wealth.

His financial success is attributed to various revenue streams, including lucrative PPV shares, participation in high-profile money fights, lucrative brand endorsements, and other income-generating avenues. He held titles in three different weight classes, however, there was a time when he manifested himself as the world champion, only a year after he had turned professional.

Gervonta Davis shares a throwback message with his fans

In his recent Instagram Story, Gervonta Davis shared an earlier tweet of his where he predicted his dominance

over the sport of boxing. In the tweet, Davis wrote, “I will be a world champ by 21, mark my words!!“However, there is an interesting backstory behind the tweet, since it was done after a man managed to go the distance against ‘Tank’ for the first time in his career.

It was someone named German Ivan Meraz, who lost to Davis by a decision in 2014. Before this fight, Davis managed to knock out every single opponent. After 20 days of this fight, Davis wrote the renowned tweet.  However, in the later years, Davis admitted that he took things a bit lightly at that time. He told Boxing Junkie at the final news conference of his fight against Isaac Cruz, “I ate too much after the weigh-in. I drank a lot of soda, ate a bunch of stuff. That messed me up.

Later in the same interview, Davis also stated that it didn’t bother him much, that he couldn’t knock out Ivan Meraz. He felt winning the fight is what matters in the end.

Davis knew he couldn’t knock out every one of his opponents

Many thought that the tweet was done due to the remorse that sat inside Gervonta Davis, for not being able to knock his opponent out for the first time in his professional career. But, later Davis stated that he was always at peace with the fact that he could not knock every one of his opponent

In the same presser, Davis also said, “Does it bother me that I couldn’t knock him out? Nah. I don’t think I’m going to knockout every opponent my whole career.

While acknowledging landing “perfect” punches for maximum impact, Davis confessed that he remains uncertain about the specific reasons as to why his shots inflict a lot of damage. He stated, “When I catch them with a perfect shot, they either fall or they’re really tough. And they felt it for sure.

Gervonta Davis has always been aware of the things that could happen inside the boxing ring, and it might not always go according to plan. What are your thoughts about this? Let us know in the comments section.