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Gervonta Davis: World boxing's most exciting but frustrating fighter?

Gervonta Davis

Gervonta Davis is one of boxing's most exciting fighters but is yet to fight an elite name despite being linked with fights against Vasyl Lomachenko, Devin Haney, George Kambosos Jr and Ryan Garcia.

WBA (Regular) super lightweight champion Gervonta Tank Davis is set for a return to the ring this weekend against Rolando Romero.

With the WBA ordering Davis to defend his regular title (George Kambosos Jr is the current WBA Super champion) against the former WBA interim lightweight champion Romero next, proposed super bouts with the likes of Devin Haney, Kambosos Jr, Ryan Garcia and Vasyl Lomachenko will have to wait.

"The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee ordered the lightweight world title fight between champion Gervonta Davis and mandatory challenger Rolando Romero," committee chairman Carlos Chavez revealed.

"The pioneer body sent the formal communication to both teams. Both fighters… will have 30 days, which expires next February 24, to reach an agreement."

While perhaps not the bout fans of Davis would have been hoping for, the unbeaten 14-0 challenger is already talking up his chances of winning the proposed bout.
"I'm back, and I'm mandatory, and the fight has to happen because if it doesn't, he's clearly a f**king p**sy.
"Both of those mother f**king was lucky I wasn't in the ring that night. I could knock them both out at the same time," Romero claimed.
A brash talker, Romero was initially scheduled to face Davis last year but was forced to pull out due to ongoing allegations of sexual assault.
Romero's replacement for that postponed bout, Isaac 'Pitbull' Cruz, performed well as a late-stand in, giving Davis (26-0) a harder nights-work than many had anticipated, with the Mexican becoming just the second man to go the distance with the knockout star before losing a 12 round UD.

Now, with Romero, 27, cleared to resume his career, the bout looks likely to occur at the back end of Spring, but fans will again be asking the question as to why the exciting and unbeaten Davis has yet to mix it with the best in the 135lb weight class.

A now four-time world champion, the Baltimore native has already achieved plenty in the super featherweight and lightweight classes, but with so many top talents currently flooding the lightweight division, one wonders how much longer the fans will have to wait before potential super bouts with the division's biggest names.

Indeed, it was reported last week that Davis's long-term trainer Calvin Ford has set his sights on an all southpaw showdown with the former unified lightweight ruler, Lomachenko.
"We waitin' on that fight, you know what I'm sayin'?" Ford revealed
"We waitin' on that fight. Like I said, it's gonna be a chess match. It's gonna be a chess match."

Boxing politics stands in the way

Vasyl Lomachenko, Boxing

While there is little doubt that a Davis-Lomachenko clash would undoubtedly set pulses racing, that bout remains one that could prove little more than a fantasy match-up with Davis under the PBC promotional banner and Lomachenko guided by Bob Arum's Top Rank.

Of course, a long-term issue that continues to do boxing no favours, the inability to match the best with the best, is an issue that must be overcome if the sport is to continue to flourish, particularly in a division as hot as the 135lb weight class.
Indeed, while it might be argued that many of the best battles now occur online in verbal sparring matches rather than inside the fabled squared circle, Davis will surely recognise the need to get busy with his career in the coming years.
An undoubted talent with plenty of power in both hands, Davis must forget notions that his current WBA regular title is little more than an alphabet strap. Kambosos Jr is the current WBA Super champion, and once more, the sport seems to be hurting itself with its insistence on creating more watered-down titles.
Too often, both fighters and fans are let down by the politics that now seems to be forever stamped on the sport. For fighters like Davis to truly emerge as superstars, they must take on the biggest challenges and be prepared to take a loss. Once more, the issue of protecting that zero seems to inhibit the potential to build rivalries inside the ring, not just on social media.
Ultimately, for Davis, his legacy will be built on what comes next, despite his already lofty achievements, particularly in the super featherweight class. Bouts with Haney, Lopez and Lomachenko, not to mention current divisional ruler Kambosos Jr would give him the chance to leave an indelible mark on a historically stacked weight class.
Indeed, for all of those fighters fighting in the lightweight division, the opportunity to establish themselves as an all-time great is very much theirs for the taking. They just need to make the fights happen.
Win, lose or draw, fans remember the wars. They remember the blood, guts and determination required to make it to the top of the sport. They look back much less fondly on those who postured and avoided the legacy bouts that might have made their achievements that much greater.
For Tank Davis, and indeed all of those fighters mentioned above, 2022 should prove to be a massive year with so many potentially exciting match-ups there to be made.
As the late, great referee Mills Lane might have opined… Let's get it on!

Read more: Tyson Fury reveals his three sparring partners ahead of Whyte showdown

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