Lamont “The Reaper” Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) believes that he was on the wrong side of a draw in his clash with WBA lightweight world champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs).
The two fought to a twelve round majority draw on Saturday night from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
There is a lot of controversy over the ninth round, when Davis voluntarily took a knee before going to his corner to have grease wiped from his eye. Had that voluntary knee been ruled a knockdown, two of the judges’ scorecards would have swung Roach’s way.
One judge scored the fight 115-113 for Davis, while the other two judges turned in identical 114-114 scorecards.
“I’m a little disappointed in the decision,” said Roach after the fight. “I thought I pulled it out. That’s what two skilled fighters do, go in there and show off their crafts. I definitely thought I won but we can run it back.
“This is every day for me. I ain’t gonna lie. I’m cut like this. I’ve been one of the ones, and I came out here and showed it. Gervonta is a great fighter. I thank him for the opportunity to show all the people that were doubting me, all the fake boxing media and fans talking shit. The script got flipped upside down. Even though I didn’t win tonight, I thought I did, but it’s a win for me in my book, but we are not satisfied with that. We need a real W.
“It should have been a knockdown. If that was knockdown, I win the fight. He’s saying grease got in his eye, but if he takes a knee and the ref starts counting, it should be a knockdown. It is what it is. I’m not banking on that knockdown to win. I just thought I pulled it out. I want to run it back for sure. I hope you all enjoyed yourself. Thanks for loving me and thanks for hating me. I’ll be back on the grand stage again, where I belong.”