WBA president Gilberto J. Mendoza Jr has sounded off on the controversey which noticed Gervonta Davis escape penalty for ‘volunteerially’ taking a knee throughout the bout – a choice that has been harshly criticised.
When Davis purposely dropped to 1 knee within the ninth spherical, Referee Steve Willis began the rely – however when he reached three the motion ought to have been dominated as a knockdown. Willis alledgely didn’t rule Davis’s kneeling as such and this inaction went on to have an effect on the factors end result of the combat.
Had this been declared a knockdown, Davis’s opponent would have been awarded the choice – a really completely different end result to the draw (03/01/2025) that evenuated.
Lamont Roach Jr and his staff – upset by the incident – had their lawyer ship a letter to the New York State Athletic Commision requesting the choice be overturned to document Roach because the winner.
Mendoza Jr, WBA president, mentioned in a press release on X: “Let me repeat – I stand by what expressed final Sunday in Ring Journal, based mostly on my 30 years plus expertise. Taking a knee with no punch shall be rule a knockdown. It affected the results of the combat.”
By taking the knee, ‘Tank’ Davis was protected as a result of Roach couldn’t legally punch him. It additionally introduced the champion time as after he kneeled he went to the ropes to wipe his face with a towel – later blaming his hair model for his selections. He claimed the merchandise used on his hairdo two days earlier than the combat “got here into my face and it burned my eyes.”
However, as a result of the debacle was not counted as a knockdown, two judges scored the bout as 114-114, and the third decide gave it to Davis as 115-113. This allowed Davis to realize a majority draw and retain his championship belt. Mendoze Jr isn’t the one public determine to talk out concerning the controversey with skilled fighters Terrance Crawford and Ryan Garcia agreeing that Davis’s opponent ought to have gotten his hand raised.
Roach additionally agreed that the correct name was made in relation to the results of the combat. He mentioned: “In the event you voluntarily take a knee and the ref’s not counting, that’s a knockdown. If that’s a knockdown, I win the combat.”
It was reported that on Monday, the fee revealed that whereas they tried to evaluation the footage, technical points made it tough. A spokesman mentioned: “In the course of the spherical in query – following the fee’s request for the replay video, there was a technical difficulty stopping the fee from receiving it throughout the allotted time for evaluation. Due to this fact, the referee’s in-ring choice was relied upon and the combat continued.”
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The spokesman went on so as to add the Commision is devoted to preserving the integrity of combative sports activities and to make sure technical points don’t have an effect on ringside on the spot replay feeds to officers sooner or later.
Nevertheless, in spit of those particulars, with an official grievance now raised – Roach’s staff will likely be hoping that if the knockdown is acknowledged then he will likely be declared the brand new WBA light-weight champion. This plan of action would additionally imply that Davis would endure the primary skilled defeat on his boxing document.
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