Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach Jr. Preview March 1st, 2025
Undefeated WBA Lightweight Champion Gervonta Davis of Baltimore, Maryland takes on WBA Junior Lightweight Beltholder Lamont Roach Jr of Washington DC in Brooklyn, New York this Saturday, March 1st. The 12-rounder can be seen live on pay-per-view in most nations. Roach last fought in June when he stopped Feargal McCrory in the eighth round after dropping him once in the third stanza and twice in the fourth round. Roach edged Hector Luis Garcia by split decision in November, 2023 to win his belt. The southpaw Davis last boxed in June as well when he halted Frank Martin in the eighth round. In his previous fight 14 months earlier, Davis halted Ryan Garcia in the seventh round after dropping him in the second and seventh stanzas.
Davis vs Roach Jr. Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Lamont Roach +800
- Gervonta Davis -1500
My Pick
The 30-year-old ‘Tank’ Davis was a 2012 National Golden Gloves Champion as an amateur and enters the fight with a perfect mark of 30-0 with 28 Ko’s. He’s fought just 138 rounds since turning pro back in 2013 due to his tremendous punching power and his knockouts over Rolando Romero, Leo Santa Cruz, Ricardo Nunez, Jesus Cuellar, Hugo Ruiz, Jose Pedraza and Liam Walsh were all exceptional. The southpaw has the talent and power to be a long-reigning champion if he manages to behave himself outside of the ring.
Davis currently has a knockout ratio of 93.3 per cent with the only two opponents to take him the distance as a pro being German Meraz when the pair went six rounds in 2014 and Isaac Cruz in December, 2021. However, Davis still managed to drop Meraz in both the third and fifth rounds. Davis stopped Jose Pedraza in the seventh round for the IBF Junior Lightweight (Super Featherweight) Title in January, 2017 and defended it four months later in England when he stopped Liam Walsh in the third round. His first title reign came to an end in August, 2017 against Francesco Fonseca though when he failed to make weight.
However, he still fought and stopped Fonseca in the eighth round. He then won the WBA Junior Lightweight Belt against Jesus Cuellar in April 2018 and defended it against Hugo Ruiz and Ricardo Nunez. He won the vacant WBA Lightweight Belt in December, 2019 when he stopped Yuriorkis Gamboa in the 12th round and defended it against Leo Santa Cruz a year later with a sixth-round stoppage before moving up in weight to stop Mario Barrios for the WBA Super Lightweight Title, which he eventually vacated to move back down to lightweight. Davis stands just over 5-feet-5-inches tall and has a reach of 67.5 inches.
Roach Jr. is 29 years old and has an impressive mark of 25-1-1 with 10 Ko’s and has boxed 172 rounds since making his pro debut in 2014. He stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 68-inch reach so has a 1.5-inch edge in height on Davis. He isn’t a power puncher or KO artist by any means as just 40 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage and he’s gone the distance in six of his past nine bouts. Roach has been boxing since he was nine years old and had a fine amateur career with more than 100 victories.
He was named the most outstanding American boxer in 2013 by USA Boxing when he won the National Golden Gloves Title in the 132 lb division. He’s also a five-time Ringside World Champion, the 2011 National PAL Champion and a two-time Junior National Golden Gloves Champion. Since turning pro his best wins have been against Rene Alvarado, Jonathan Oquendo, Alberto Mercado, Rey Perez, Luis Hinojosa and Alejandro Valdez.
As a pro he’s also won the vacant WBC Youth Silver Super Featherweight Crown with the win over Valdez as well as the vacant WBO International, NABF, and WBO NABO Super Featherweight Belts. Roach Jr’s lone draw was a 10-round affair with Orlando Cruz in April of 2018 for the vacant WBO International Title. His lone defeat came at the hands of Jamel Herring via a unanimous decision in November, 2019 in a shot at the WBO Super Featherweight Title.
Prediction…
Both boxers have skill but Davis possesses a lot more power and Roach is moving up to the lightweight division for this fight. This isn’t a fight that was on any fans’ wish list but Davis sometimes fights to the level of his opponent and often isn’t busy enough to dominate proceedings. However, he’ll usually catch his opponent with a power shot or two and when he does it’s basically lights out. This fight will probably follow the same script as Roach may bank a few rounds on the scorecards before Davis eventually catches up to him. If Roach’s chin holds out there’s a chance it goes the distance but the odds are stacked against him.
Davis has a decided edge in power.
Play: Davis -1500 @ BetOnline.ag
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Gervonta Davis betting • Lamont Roach Jr. betting