The much-anticipated boxing match between Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Rolando “Rolly” Romero was well worth the hype in the WBA lightweight championship, according to Black America.
Davis retained his WBA (regular) lightweight title, stopping Romero in the sixth round.
During the match, which took place May 29 before 18,970 attendees in a sold-out crowd at New York City’s Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Davis landed a knockout blow 21 seconds into the sixth round against Romero after it seemed Romero had dominated the previous rounds. With the win, Davis remains undefeated.
Davis has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the WBA lightweight title since 2019, the IBF super featherweight title in 2017, the WBA super featherweight title twice between 2018 and 2021, and the WBA super lightweight in 2021.
Romero held the WBA interim lightweight title from 2020 to 2021.
“I love Tank Davis like I love Tyson,” tweeted Mista Rose.
According to observers, Romero controlled the rounds up until the TKO. Romero had been making it difficult for Davis to get inside and land his trademark left hands and uppercuts. “That strategy was working well for Romero as the rounds went by,” CBS Sports reported — that was until Davis “let loose with a left-hand counter that caught Romero clean and sent him face-first into the ropes before sliding down to the canvas.”
Romero did get to his feet, but the referee did not like Romero’s response to his instructions and waived the fight off. The decision gave Davis another highlight-reel knockout in his young career.
“Tank said ‘It ain’t no safety on this Glock and it got a lot ammunition’,” Meezer Sister tweeted.
“Tank Davis is a NASTY puncher. That one punch power is lethal,” baboon10 tweeted.
CBS Sports captured a video of Davis’ mother celebrating ringside, adding the tweet, “Tank Davis’s mom out here vibin’.”
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“The crazy thing is I didn’t even throw that hard,” Davis said of the fight-ending punch, comparing it to Juan Manuel Marquez’s one-punch knockout of Manny Pacquiao in 2012. “I just threw it, and he ran right into it. Thank God he’s good.”
The match was not an all-out slugfest. Instead, both fighters threw very calculated punches. Davis landed 25 total punches to 22 landed for Romero.
Photo: Rolando Romero, left, fights Gervonta Davis, right, during WBA lightweight championship boxing, May 29, 2022, in New York. Davis won in the sixth round. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)