It was your classic late Friday news dump from the New York State Athletic Commission; who responded to the request of Lamont Roach and his camp to review his March 1 fight versus Gervonta Davis that took place at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn that ended in a disputed draw.
NYSAC made the ruling that the original decision would stand.
Regardless of the preponderance of evidence that was in favor of Roach, who came into this bout as a heavy underdog, this was only going to go in one direction. (I don't need to rehash what took place in round nine of that bout when Davis took a self-imposed timeout after taking a light jab from Roach.)
@lunatoonboxing
At the end of the day, this was a business decision made by the commission. 'Tank' is one of the game's true ticket sellers -- and that night set an attendance record for that venue -- and the most bankable commodity that the PBC has remaining. Davis is too big to fail for those involved.
Nobody should be surprised by this verdict. And quite frankly, Roach and his side aren't all that stunned -- if not, disappointed -- by what transpired. But the bottom line is that they had to do their job and at least try and get justice. Now, they move on and start focusing in on the rematch.
But it has to be noted that the NYSAC admitted that: “It is the sense of the Commission following an extensive after-the-fact review of the footage of the ninth round, that the most appropriate call under the circumstances presented would have been for the referee to determine that Mr. Davis's knee contacting the canvas constituted a "knockdown." However, the determination of whether a knockdown occurred in that instance was within the discretion and authority of the referee.”
However, the 'referee's discretion', in this case, Steve Willis, is something that is now a buzz phrase being thrown around. It seems to almost insulate officials and the commission from any accountability for judgement calls. The NYSAC also stated:
“In the instant matter, without making a finding of fact, the Commission will assume as true that the referee erred in ruling that Mr. Davis sustained a knockdown in the ninth round. However, since the bout continued for more than three (3) full rounds after the referee's no knockdown call, and because the boxers necessarily adjusted to the referee's ruling, the referee's call was not outcome-determinative.”
Well, that last sentence can be argued, if a knockdown was called, not only would it have changed the scoring of that round (and the outcome of the bout), but it probably would have changed how both fighters would have approached the championship rounds of this contest.
Not that this contest wasn't close. To the contrary, a case could be made for either man getting his raised in victory. It was that kind of fight. With how the fight played out, a draw is a win for Roach. No, not on the official record, and it's certainly not as satisfying as an official victory, but the fact that it looks like he's getting an immediate rematch is akin to a 'W'.
Davis-Roach I is still in the boxing news cycle and getting some mainstream coverage, and the ongoing controversy is a great way to kick off the promotion for a summer rematch. You can believe whatever pay-per-view numbers are being floated around for their first encounter, but it's this scribes opinion that the rematch will do significantly better.
Should it land in New York again, well, I hope this time around the NYSAC work out their technical issues with their replay system.
MARCH
I know, I know, I've been talking a lot about Davis-Roach recently, but this is a big story, and quite frankly, there isn't that much going on in March worth talking about on the schedule.
I promise I will get to the other stuff moving forward.
