Lamont Roach Jr has the chance to score one of the biggest upsets in recent boxing memory when he rolls into battle against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis on March 1.
The scale of the challenge ahead of Lamont Roach Jr cannot be understated.
Not only is ‘The Reaper’ an enormous underdog at the bookies, but the global boxing community is widely expecting Gervonta Davis to simply walk through the 25-1-1 technician.
If Roach is to shock the world and achieve the nigh-on-impossible this Saturday evening, he’ll need to overcome the one thing that previous opponents of ‘Tank’ have decidedly lacked.
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Lamont Roach Jr. on what Gervonta Davis’ previous rivals lacked
Speaking with Sean Zittel, Lamont Roach Jr doubled down on his prediction that his clash with Davis is “gonna be up for Fight of the Year, it’s going to be a spectacle for sure.”
‘Tank’ might be reigning supreme at 30-0, but Roach believes that he possesses the one thing that Davis’ previous opponents have all lacked – the willingness to walk through fire.
“It’s all about confidence. It’s all about what you set out to do. It’s about how hard you work. It’s about being able to know that you got what it takes to do what you about to do.
“And I think a lot of opponents that he’s been in there with lacked that. I think the only person that didn’t was probably Pitbull [Isaac Cruz], but skill-wise, he was limited.”
Cruz remains the only fighter since 2014 to have taken ‘Tank’ all the way to the judges’ scorecards; with Roach arguing that most of Davis’ previous opponents were beaten before they’d even stepped foot into the ring.
“If you’re worried about a punch landing and doing something [damaging] to you then eventually it’s going to happen. You got to go in there and be ready, and my thing is that we’re [also] going to see how he reacts to this punch, especially a clean one.
“At the end of the day, I am a boxing fan and we’ve seen that little guy can punch; he can hit, he got nice reflexes, good speed, and a nice boxing IQ – there’s nothing you can deny about that… But it’s about what I know I got, [and] I’ve got everything to match or neutralize what he has.”
If it wasn’t obvious already, Roach is a picture of self-confidence, later claiming that the only way he exits the Barclays Center without the WBA title is out on a stretcher.
“I’m a dog. I’ve got the skillset of a master-class boxer… My mental [power] is on 1000. I can’t be mentally broken; I can’t be physically broken – he’s gonna have to get me to beat me.”
Lamont Roach Jr. hits back at fans accusing ‘Tank’ of cherry-picking
Back in October, the announcement of Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach Jr for the WBA lightweight title was, generally speaking, met with a positive reception.
However, there was a sub-section of the global boxing community who were unhappy with the matchup; with many accusing Gervonta Davis of ‘cherry picking’ his opponents from lower weight classes.
Speaking via Cigar Talk, Roach would hit back at that criticism by explaining his plan was always to move up to 135lbs – and if you’re going to move up, it makes sense to take on the man with the biggest following in the division.
“Tank isn’t the biggest 135-pounder. Everybody he fights is damn near bigger than him. I think the only person that was smaller than him was Pitbull [Isaac Cruz]. And that’s just in height. In stature, he was technically bigger than Tank, too.
“I don’t see why people are like ‘Oh, you brought up a smaller guy.’ I’m not stunting that. I fight at 130 because that’s where I campaign at. That’s where I worked my way up to a world title… My plan was always to move up to 135 and win another title – it just happened a little earlier than normal.”
Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach Jr goes down live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday, March 1.