Gervonta Davis

Early career

Davis made his debut at the age of 18 on February 22, 2013, against Desi Williams, who had a professional record of 0 wins and 4 losses, all by stoppage. The fight took place at the D.C. Armory in Washington on the undercard of IBF junior welterweight fight between Lamont Peterson and Kendall Holt. Davis won the bout via first-round knockout (KO).^[11] By August 2014, Davis had recorded 8 wins and no losses, with all wins coming inside the distance. Davis was taken the full distance for the first time in October 2014 against veteran 28-year-old Germán Meraz (47–31–1, 25 KOs). Davis knocked Meraz down in rounds three and five, and went on to win a unanimous decision (UD), with all three judges scoring the bout 60–52. Nonetheless, Meraz became the 1st fighter to go the full distance against Davis.

On February 20, 2015, at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Davis became the first person to stop Israel Suarez (4–4–2, 1 KO), winning in devastating fashion with a first-round KO.^[12]

On May 22, 2015, at The Claridge Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Davis scored a technical knockout (TKO) against Alberto Mora (5–3, 1 KO) 1 minute 14 seconds into the fight. The normally durable Mora was stopped for the first time in his career.^[13] On September 12, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Showtime as part of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto undercard, Davis defeated Recky Dulay (8–1, 5 KOs) in only 94 seconds.^[14] On October 30, 2015, at The Venue at UCF in Orlando, Florida, on Bounce TV, Davis defeated veteran 38-years-old former featherweight title holder Cristobal Cruz (40–18–4, 24 KOs).^[15]

On December 18, 2015, at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Spike TV, Davis scored a ninth-round KO over Luis Sanchez (17–4–1, 5 KOs).^[16] On April 1, 2016, at the D.C. Armory on Spike TV, Davis defeated Guillermo Avila (16–5, 13 KOs) by KO in the sixth round.^[17][18] On June 3, 2016, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, as part of a Premier Boxing Champions card, Davis knocked out Mario Antonio Macias (28–18, 14 KOs) with his first punch of the fight, which lasted only 41 seconds.^[19]

Davis vs. Pedraza

On November 15, 2016 ESPN announced that Davis would challenge for the IBF super featherweight title against undefeated José Pedraza (22–0, 12 KOs) on January 14, 2017, at the Barclays Center in New York on Showtime. The fight would take place as an undercard fight to the super middleweight world title unification fight between James DeGale and Badou Jack. The IBF granted Pedraza an exemption to fight Davis, as he had a mandatory fight against Liam Walsh looming. Prior to the fight being announced, Mayweather Promotions matchmakers tried to make a deal for Davis to fight titleholder Jason Sosa.^[20] In a very competitive fight Davis defeated Pedraza in a seventh-round KO to win the IBF super featherweight title.^[21] After the fight, Davis said that he had studied the early career of his promoter and mentor, Floyd Mayweather Jr., in order to stay composed. He said, "I had a lot of experience [from the amateur ranks], but I learned how to keep my composure. Floyd told me to stay calm, and I studied Floyd Mayweather [videos] when he was 'Pretty Boy.' My uppercut was my best shot, and it was landing all night. It felt really good to fight the way I did. I could take it and dish it out." Mayweather Jr. himself enthusiastically branded his protégé as the future of boxing. For the fight, Davis earned $75,000 compared to Pedraza, who earned the larger sum of $225,000, in what was his third defense. At the time of stoppage, Davis was ahead 59–55 on all three judges' scorecards.^[22]

Davis vs. Walsh

On May 7, 2017, it was announced Davis would travel to London, England for his first title defense. The news came from Frank Warren, promoter of challenger Liam Walsh (21–0, 14 KO), who was also ranked number 1 by the IBF. The fight was scheduled to take place on May 20, 2017, and billed as 'Show me the Money'.^[23][24] At the official weigh in on May 19, Davis showed up overweight and was given 2 hours to make weight. His first attempt, although he was naked, he weighed two ounces over. He was then given two hours to attempt to lose the extra weight, although he came back earlier thinking he had lost it but was still over the limit. He eventually met the limit of 130 pounds on his third attempt.^[25] Davis stopped Walsh in the third-round to retain his IBF title. After two cagey rounds, which were controlled by Davis, he came out with power punches at the start of the third. Walsh's legs looked to give way and Davis pounced with accurate hooks to the head, eventually dropping Walsh. Walsh beat the count. The fight resumed and Davis went on the attack again, connecting with every shot he threw, then referee Michael Alexander decided stop the fight, even though Walsh wanted to continue. The time of stoppage was 2 minutes and 11 seconds of round three.^[26] Many at ringside believed the stoppage was premature, including Walsh, "That was a bad stoppage. He's very fast and very active but it was too quick. He won fair and square but in England sometimes they stop the fight too early."^[27][28] The fight was shown live on Showtime in the U.S. averaging 228,000 viewers and peaking at 253,000 viewers.^[29]

Davis vs. Fonseca

According to TMZ Sports in early July 2017, it was reported that Davis would feature in the co-main event of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor on August 26, 2017, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.^[30] On July 29, The Ring magazine reported that Davis would likely defend his IBF title against former WBO champion Román Martínez, whose last fight was a KO loss to Vasyl Lomachenko in June 2016.^[31] On August 10, Ringtv reported that Davis would instead fight unbeaten prospect Francisco Fonseca (19–0–1, 13 KOs), who at the time was ranked number 7 by the IBF. According to some sources, the potential fight with Martínez was dropped due to it being short notice and Martínez would not have had enough time to make the 130-pound limit.^[32] Prior to the fight being announced, the IBF had ordered Fonseca to fight their number 3 ranked Billy Dib (42–4, 24 KOs) in a final eliminator, as they were the two highest ranked available.^[33] At the weigh in, Fonseca came in at the 130-pound limit. Davis showed up an hour late and came in at 132 pounds, 2 pounds over the weight limit. Davis declined to weigh in after two hours, thus he was stripped of the IBF title. The title was declared vacant, but the title would be still up for grabs if Fonseca secured victory.^[34] In what was billed as an easy fight for Davis, he won the fight via KO in round eight, with the ending being controversial. The final punch appeared to be an illegal punch to the back of the head to Fonseca and referee Russell Mora counted him out 39 seconds into the round. After the fight, Davis mocked Fonseca.^[35] Fonseca appeared hurt before the knockout blow, which Davis, who was being booed by the crowd, explained to Jim Gray of Showtime in the post fight interview, "I actually caught him with a body shot before that and he was hurt. So he took advantage of me hitting him in the back of his head and went down." With the win, Davis scored his tenth-straight KO victory. Due to Davis winning the fight, the IBF title remained vacant.^[36][37] For the fight, Davis earned a purse of $600,000 compared to the amount $35,000 that Fonseca received.^[38]

Davis vs. Cuellar

On November 15, 2017, Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions announced that Davis would be making his in ring return in the first quarter of 2018 alongside stablemate Badou Jack. He also revealed that Davis would fight a high-level opponent.^[39] According to Ellerbe, Davis would remain at super featherweight and likely challenge for a world title in 2018.^[40] On January 24, 2018, Showtime announced that Davis would next appear on television on the undercard of Broner vs. Vargas on April 21 at the Barclays Center in New York.^[41] A day later, Ellerbe stated a deal was close to being reached for Davis to fight former world champion and IBF #3 Billy Dib (43–4, 24 KOs, 2 NC) in what would be an IBF eliminator. A purse bid, which was due to take place on January 25 was postponed to February 6.^[42] On February 21, it was reported by ESPN that the fight would not happen. Instead it was stated Davis' likely opponent would be Jesús Cuellar (28–2, 21 KOs). On March 5, the fight was finalized for the vacant WBA (Regular) super featherweight title. Cuellar was moving up from featherweight for the fight, he was coming off a loss, and 2 years of inactivity.^[43] Prior to the fight, Alberto Machado, the WBA (Super) champion at the same weight class, was inexplicably downgraded to 'Regular' champion, and the Davis-Cuellar fight was upgraded to be for Machado's WBA (Super) super featherweight title.

In front of 13,964 in attendance, Davis knocked out Cuellar in round three. Davis first knocked down Cuellar in round two courtesy of a left hook to the body and then put him down twice in round three to get the stoppage. Referee Benjy Esteves Jr. stopped the action at 2 minutes 45 seconds into the round. Davis landed 49% of his power shots in the fight. Both boxers earned $350,000 apiece. After the fight, Davis stated he wanted to unify with the winner of Tevin Farmer vs. Billy Dib, which would be contested for the IBF belt, the same belt Davis was stripped of.^[44][45][46] The bout opened Showtime's broadcast and averaged 460,000 viewers and peaked at 527,000 viewers.^[47]

Cancelled Abner Mares fight

In November 2018, Davis announced that he would defend his WBA title in February 2019 against former titlist Abner Mares (31–3–1, 15 KOs) in Southern California. The fight was first teased by Mayweather via social media in August 2018, with no mention of a date or venue.^[48] The fight would see Mares moving up from featherweight, having lost his last fight in June 2018 against Léo Santa Cruz.^[49] When the fight was announced, there was a lot of talk of Mares being 'thrown to the wolves' and that he had no real chance against Davis. Mares hit back at critics explaining it was his decision to move up in weight and test himself.^[50] On December 14, the fight was confirmed to take place on February 9, 2019, at Pechanga Arena in San Diego on Showtime.^[51] A week later the venue was changed to Dignity Health Sports Park, in Carson, California, formerly known as StubHub Center.^[52] Mares and Davis ultimately did not fight on the scheduled date after Mares suffered a potential career ending injury, a detached retina, during sparring.^[53]

Davis vs. Ruiz

On January 30, 2019, PBC announced that former WBC super bantamweight champion Hugo Ruiz (39-4, 33 KOs) had stepped in to replace Mares to challenge Davis for the WBA super featherweight title. The fight was scheduled to take place on February 9, broadcast on Showtime, at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Ruiz, who was known as an aggressive, all-action brawler, last fought at featherweight a month prior against Alberto Guevara.^[54][55] Ruiz's promoter, Oswaldo Küchle, confirmed that after his last win, he went back into training, so he was fully prepared to challenge Davis. According to PBC, the event was already sold out. When Ruiz was added to the card, Davis was initially unaware of him but soon learned that Ruiz was a larger and stronger opponent, presenting a different set of challenges. Davis expected a tougher fight than the one scheduled against Mares. Ruiz also believed he had more punching power than Mares.^[56][57][58] The weigh-in took place at the Los Angeles Airport Westin. Davis had to make a few attempts to reach the contracted weight. First, he stepped on the scale, weighing 130.4 pounds. He then removed his underwear and weighed 130.2 pounds. The commission granted him 30 minutes to lose the remaining weight. When he returned, he was below the limit, at 129.8 pounds. Davis blamed the discrepancy on the difference between the scale in his hotel room and the CSAC scale. He stated that he was not dehydrated and felt physically well. Davis did not show any signs of excessive weight cutting. Ruiz weighed in at 129.5 pounds.^[59][60] Davis later admitted that he did gain too much weight since his last fight, which was ten months before.^[61]

Davis dominated Ruiz with a first-round knockout to retain his WBA title.^[62] The attendance was 8,048 on the night. From the opening bell, Ruiz retreated and began defending cautiously. He was unprepared for Davis's aggressive pace and pressure. He landed powerful combinations. Towards the end of the round, Davis cornered Ruiz and landed a right hook, followed by a straight left, which broke Ruiz's nose and caused bleeding. Ruiz beat referee Jack Reiss's count after being knocked down but did not answer his call to continue. The fight was stopped with just one second remaining in the first round. This marked Davis' twelfth consecutive knockout and his eighth first-round KO. Ruiz’s corner confirmed he was too hurt to continue.^[63][64] After the fight, Davis said, “Tonight I just wanted to put on a great performance.” Reiss explained the stoppage to Jim Gray, “Ruiz didn’t answer me. I told him clearly, in the dressing room, what he needed to do. When I asked him in Spanish if he wanted to continue, he didn’t answer. He basically made the decision. If he just [nodded his head], we would have kept going.” Davis wanted a homecoming return in July 2019. According to CompuBox statistics, Davis landed 11 of 56 punches thrown (20%), and Ruiz landed only 3 of 19 (16%).^[65][66] According to Forbes, Davis was paid $1 million for the fight and Ruiz had a $100,000 purse.^[67] The fight averaged 429,000 viewers, peaking at 486,000 viewers.^[68]

Davis vs. Núñez

On May 7, 2019, Davis was ordered by the WBA to make a mandatory defense against Panamanian boxers Ricardo Núñez (21-2, 19 KOs), who had not lost a fight since 2015. Both teams were given a 30-day negotiation period. Núñez's last loss came against Barnie Arguelles, after which he avenged the defeat by knockout in a rematch.^[69][70] On May 16, it was reported that negotiations were underway, with both teams looking to agree on terms for a fight to take place at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore on July 27, on Showtime. Originally, the plans were for Davis to have his homecoming fight against former featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa.^[71] The fight was officially announced on June 6. The event marked a significant milestone, as Davis was the first Baltimore native to defend a world title in his hometown since Harry Jeffra in 1940. It was also the first world championship in Baltimore in nearly 50 years.^[72] It was Núñez's first professional fight in the United States. Leonard Ellerbe stated that it was a long-standing desire to bring a world title fight to Baltimore for Davis, who aimed to deliver a memorable event for his Baltimore supporters.^[73][74][75] There were some pre-fight tensions and confident predictions from both fighters. Davis mocked Núñez’s claim that he could knock him out, then stated he urgently had to train and implied confidence in his own power. Núñez responded confidently, saying he was not intimidated by Davis’ undefeated status or power and promised a "great show" for the fans. Both promised the fight would not go the distance. Núñez had an 83% knockout rate; however, he fought a much lower calibre of opponents.^[76] Davis made weight with no issue, coming in at 129½ pounds. Núñez came in slightly lighter, at 128¾ pounds.^[77]

Davis retained his title, in front of a sell-out 14,686 fans in attendance, knocking Núñez out in the second round.^[78] Davis controlled the fight early, inviting Núñez forward before landing a left hook. Núñez was then pushed back against the ropes, defenseless, prompting referee Harvey Dock to stop the fight half way through the round. At the time, Núñez had taken several unanswered shots and was unable to defend himself.^[79][80] After the fight, Davis said, "It was amazing to fight in front of friends and family. It means a lot. This was not just a win for me, but a win for Baltimore." He also paid tribute to the recent deaths of boxers Maxim Dadashev and Hugo Alfredo Santillan during his post-fight speech. He then called for unification fights, mentioning Tevin Farmer.^[81][82][83] Mayweather praised Davis as “an unbelievable fighter” and “something special.” He also praised Davis’s charisma, projecting him as a future pay-per-view star and major figure in boxing.^[84] The fight peaked 594,000 viewers on Showtime.^[85]

Davis vs. Gamboa

On October 16, 2019, Mike Coppinger reported that Davis would fight veteran 38-year-old former featherweight champion Gamboa on December 28, with the fight to be televised by Showtime as the main event of a tripleheader.^[88] On October 25, the fight was announced to take place at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, marking a significant boxing occasion for the city after a long hiatus. Davis was excited about bringing a major boxing event back to Atlanta, a city he considered his "second home." He expected a challenging fight, acknowledging Gamboa’s status as a respected and accomplished boxer. The fight was contested for the vacant WBA 'regular' lightweight title, with the winner being in position to challenge Lomachenko for the full championship status.^[89][90][91]

There were 14,129 fans in attendance. In a competitive fight, Davis dropped Gamboa three times, winning via twelfth-round technical knockout.^[92][93] The first knockdown came in the second round. Before the fourth, Gamboa's assistant taped his boot for extra support. In the fifth round, Davis rocked Gamboa multiple times but he stayed on his feet. In the eighth, Davis landed a powerful left hand that dropped Gamboa a second time. In the eleventh, Davis landed a hard straight left, pushing Gamboa to the ropes. In the final round, Davis delivered two knockdowns, forcing referee Jack Reiss to stop the fight at 1:17 with a left uppercut knockout.^[94][95] At the time of stoppage, two judges scored the fight 109–98, and the third judge scored it 109–97, all for Davis.^[96][97][98] According to CompuBox punch stats, Davis had landed 120 of 321 punches thrown (37%), while Gamboa landed 78 of 617 thrown (13%).^[99]

Gamboa experienced serious leg issues during the fight, including a possible Achilles tendon rupture in the second round, which he revealed after the bout: “I think I ruptured my Achilles tendon… I can’t put pressure on it. I wanted to keep going; I’m a warrior.” He also had problems with his shoe, which contributed to his mobility issues.^[100] Davis praised Gamboa for being a tough opponent and rated his own performance as a C+, admitting he did not feel his best. Davis expected a big year ahead in 2020 and felt comfortable at 130 or 135 pounds.^[97][101] His performance received some mixed reactions from fellow boxers.^[102] The fight, which marked the first time Davis had gone past nine rounds as a professional, peaked 604,000 viewers, averaging 577,000 viewers. This was behind Wilder’s first-round knockout of Breazeale, which lasted less than 3 minutes and averaged 886,000 viewers on Showtime.^[103]

In January 2020, Gamboa was diagnosed with a complete tear and retraction of his right Achilles tendon and required surgery. Having fought with the injury for ten rounds, he was hoping to gain another fight against Davis.^[104][105]

Davis vs. Santa Cruz

Making his PPV debut on October 31, 2020, on Showtime, Davis moved back down to super featherweight and recaptured his vacated WBA (Super) title against Léo Santa Cruz, who had picked it up in a vacate title fight. The fight took place at The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Early in the fight, Davis was knocked down by Santa Cruz, however it was not ruled a knockdown. In round 6, Davis caught Santa Cruz with a sharp left uppercut and the Mexican immediately fell to the canvas. The referee stopped the fight and Davis retained his lightweight title, while also recapturing the WBA (Super) super featherweight title.^[106] At the time of the stoppage, Davis was leading on all three judges' scorecards by the identical margin, 48–47.^[107] Over the course of just under six rounds, Davis had been out-landed and out-thrown by his opponent despite being the more accurate boxer: he landed 84 of 227 punches thrown (37%), while Santa Cruz landed 97 of 390 thrown (25%). His knockout of Santa Cruz was selected as the winner of The Ring Magazine Knockout of The Year award for 2020.^[108]

Davis vs. Barrios

In his second fight headlining a Showtime PPV, Davis moved up to the super lightweight division for the first time in his career to face WBA (Regular) champion Mario Barrios on June 26, 2021, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.^[109] On the night, Davis prevailed in a competitive fight, knocking his opponent down twice in the eighth round, and again in the eleventh round. Even though Barrios wanted to continue the fight, referee Thomas Taylor decided to wave the fight off handing davis a TKO win. Davis was leading on all three judges' scorecards, with scores of 97–91 and 96–92 twice, at the time of the stoppage.^[110] According to CompuBox punch stats, Davis landed 96 of 296 total punches (32%), while Barrios connected on 93 of 394 total punches (24%).^[111] Sometime after the fight, Barrios revealed that the fight included a 10lb rehydration clause.^[112]

Davis vs. Cruz

On October 6, 2021, Davis announced that he would be facing his mandatory challenger, Rolando Romero on December 5 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Showtime PPV.^[113] However, Romero was pulled from the bout due to sexual assault allegations made against him, and was subsequently replaced with Isaac Cruz. Cruz was brought in at 2 weeks notice.^[114] On the night, Davis went the full distance for the second time in his career. In a very close and competitive fight Davis won via unanimous decision, with the judges' scorecards reading 115–113, 115–113 and 116–112 in his favor. Nevertheless, Cruz was only the second fighter to go the distance with Davis, after Germán Meraz.

Davis vs. Romero

Once Rolando Romero revealed on his Instagram page in January 2022 that no charges against him were filed, as the claims of sexual abuse could not be substantiated,^[115] the WBA once again ordered Davis to make his WBA (Regular) title defense against Romero, and gave the pair until February 24 to come to terms.^[116] The pair agreed to face each other on May 28, in the main event of a Showtime PPV,^[117] at the Barclays Center in New York City. In a very competitive fight, Rolly was finding success in the first 5 rounds, but in the 6th round Davis scored a knockdown. Rolly managed to get up from the knock down and wanted to continue, but the referee decided to wave the fight off, handing Rolly a TKO loss.^[118]

Davis vs. Héctor García

On January 7, 2023. Davis faced Héctor García on Showtime PPV at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., in his first fight since splitting from longtime promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr. García had to move up to lightweight for the fight. The fight was a closely-contested affair, until Davis landed a flush straight left early in the eighth round. Soon after, a fight broke out in the crowd at ringside with 2 minutes and 8 seconds left in the eighth round, causing the fight to be temporarily halted. When the action was resumed, Davis found success again with his left hand, visibly hurting García. The latter was disoriented after retreating to his stool in his corner, complaining about his eyesight. The fight was stopped, with Davis winning via eighth-round corner retirement.^[119]

Davis vs. Ryan Garcia

On February 24, 2023, it was announced that Davis would face Ryan Garcia in a catchweight bout on April 22, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The long-awaited bout would be a joint PPV event between Showtime and DAZN.^[120] The fight included a 10lb rehydration clause.^[121] Early in the fight, Davis knocked Garcia down with a heavy left punch in round 2. He later defeated Garcia by knockout in the seventh round, after a body punch resulted in Garcia failing to beat the count. Ryan waited for the referee to finish the count and then immediately got up, resulting in boxing media labeling him as a quitter. At the time of stoppage, Davis was comfortably ahead on all 3 judges scorecards with scores 59–55 (twice) and 58–56 all for Davis.

Davis vs. Martin

Davis defended his WBA lightweight title against Frank Martin on June 15, 2024 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.^[123][124] Both fighters were coming into fight after a one-year layoff. Nonetheless, Davis won the fight and retained his title by 8th-round knockout.^[125]

Davis vs. Roach

Davis was scheduled to defend his WBA lightweight title against Lamont Roach Jr. at Toyota Center in Houston, TX on December 14, 2024.^[126][127] In October 2024, it was reported that the fight was postponed.^[128][129] On November 13, 2024 it was reported that the fight was "targeted" for March 1, 2025.^{[130][131][132]} On November 29, 2024, the bout between Davis and Roach was confirmed to take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY on March 1, 2025.^[133][134]

Davis would retain his WBA lightweight title in a majority draw (115–113 Davis, 114–114, and 114–114), the first of his professional career.^[135] The decision was met with significant controversy,^[136] particularly due to a moment in the 9th round in which Davis suddenly took a knee following a quick jab from Roach. Davis then walked to his corner, motioned toward his left eye, and was wiped with a towel. Referee Steve Willis incorrectly did not call it a knockdown against Davis.^[137] Had the knockdown been correctly called, Roach would have won via unanimous decision and resulted in the first loss of Davis' career. Nevertheless, Roach was only the third fighter to go the distance with Davis, after Germán Meraz and Isaac Cruz.^[138] In the post-fight interview, Davis stated "I just got my hair done two days ago, and she put grease in it. [...] When you're sweating and things like that, the grease came into my face and burned my eyes." He then later expressed interest in rematching Roach.^[139] On March 4, 2025, it was reported that Roach's camp filed an appeal to the NYSAC to overturn the draw.^[140] 3 days later, the NYSAC stated that although Roach should have been credited with a knockdown against Davis, they opted not to overturn the result, claiming that "the referee's call was not outcome-determinative".^[141]

According to Dan Rafael, the PPV generated around 262,000 buys, grossing $21 million in revenue. The attendance was reported to be a record 19,250 for the Barclays Center.^[142] It was later reported the event sold 16,420 tickets with 766 comps, generating a $6,415,815 gate. The attendance was 2,064 lower than what was originally announced by PBC.^[143]

Inactivity and Loss of Title

On April 3, ESPN reported a rematch was being planned for June 21 between Davis and Roach with T-Mobile Arena being the potential venue.^[144] Sources claimed the fight would instead take place at the end of Summer.^[145] In May, Brunch Boxing's Matthew “Bellini” Brown revealed the fight would take place on August 16 in Las Vegas.^[146][147] On June 20, Roach put out a tweet claiming Davis was yet to sign his end of the deal.^[148] After Davis was arrested for battery on July 11, the prospect of a rematch with Roach appeared increasingly doubtful.^[149][150] On August 16, Roach stated he would no longer pursue the rematch with Davis and felt Davis was never keen to give him a rematch.^[151] Four days later, Davis announced an exhibition fight with Jake Paul in November 2025.^[152] The WBA was expected to review Davis' championship status because of the failure to schedule the required rematch.^[153] On January 17, 2026, the WBA downgraded his status to “Champion in recess” due to his ongoing legal troubles.^[154] On January 19, 2026, it was revealed more that Davis had in fact been stripped of the WBA lightweight title, with this decision initially being announced on January 16, 2026 by WBA president Gilberto Mendoza on a Spanish-language talk show, after an arrest warrant was issued against him for domestic violence accusations.^[155]