Gervonta Davis had one points win in his first 25 fights, and had a 16-fight knockout streak broken when he went the 12-round distance for the first time in 2021.
It has now been two months since Gervonta Davis suffered a shock draw against Lamont Roach Jr. in a fight many were certain would be yet another KO win for Tank.
Roach marked the second man to ever take Davis the full 12-round distance, and third man to ever hear the final bell against him.
When Tank began his career, he won his first eight fights by knockout, before winning on points against journeyman German Ivan Meraz. After the win, Tank went another 16 fights without hearing the judges’ scorecards before encountering his toughest opponent.
Gervonta Davis’ closest fight came in a 12-round contest against Rolly Romero’s late replacement
In 2021, Davis was 25-0, with 24 knockouts, and was ready to face Rolando Romero, who beat Ryan Garcia recently.
Romero was forced to withdraw from the bout, and Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, a relatively unknown fighter at the time, was brought in on just two weeks notice.
Cruz, who was homeless before reaching heights in boxing, put in a great performance given his lack of a full training camp, and took Davis the furthest he’d gone before, losing in a razor-close unanimous decision, with scorecards of 115-113, 115-113, 116-112.
Cruz, who Mike Tyson sees himself in, has called for the rematch multiple times since, and has beaten Rolly Romero himself to win a world title, though he lost to Jose Valenzuela one fight later.
Aside from Roach, who claimed Davis tried to bite him, Cruz remains Davis’ toughest opponent, especially given how little time he had to prepare for the bout. Since the Roach draw, Davis holds a 90% KO rate.
Gervonta Davis has had one fight outside of the United States
Davis has now had 31 fights, and just one of them has come outside of the States, when he made his first world title defence in Stratford, London.
Davis faced 21-0 Liam Walsh on a card run by Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions in 2017.
Walsh’s brother, Ryan, was also on the card and was forced to watch as Tank dropped and stopped his kin in the third round, dashing his hopes for a world title.
Liam fought twice more before retiring, but never did win a world title.