Davis Becomes The Full WBA Champ
Gervonta Davis is no longer the WBA ‘Regular’ champion after the organization elevated him to a full-title holder.
The decision comes in light of Devin Haney’s move up to junior welterweight, which resulted in him vacating his belts, including the WBA. The move up in weight was successful as Haney beat Regis Prograis to become a two-weight and two-division champion. That also meant that ‘The Dream’ ruled out a move back down to 135 pounds as his title of a super champion has now been removed. That has left Davis with the full title, which he was against.
“I don’t want that s***” Gervonta Davis said
Davis WBA Champ
The decision means that Davis will be required to face his mandatory at some point. It also means that he will have to pay a sanctioning fee. That all has the impact of hindering Davis’ ability to choose who he wants to fight. As of now, the current champions at 135 is Shakur Stevenson. He earned the WBC belt following his win over Edwin De Los Santos.
That has put him in line for a unification fight as he expressed his desire to become undisputed. His contract is also up with Top Rank after his next fight, meaning he could sign with PBC. That makes a Tank Davis fight much easier. Reports also state that George Kambosos Jr. and Vasiliy Lomachenko could fight for the vacant IBF title in April. That would provide Davis with another possible unification.
Davis’ Personal Changes
This move by the WBA comes in light of various changes in Davis’ life. The boxer recently converted to Islam and adopted the name Abdul Wahid, meaning the ‘Servant of the One.’ Before that, Davis was in prison for violating the terms of his house arrest about a hit-and-run incident.
This arrived after Davis secured the biggest win of his boxing career, a seventh-round knockout of Ryan Garcia. The fight sold over 1.2 million PPVs, making it the highest-grossing fight of 2023. Davis’ return has been mentioned following PBC’s recent deal with Amazon Prime Video. Reports indicated that Davis was being considered to headline their first PPV on the new platform next spring.
Davis On Amazon Prime?
“Prime Video will distribute PBC’s industry-leading pay-per-view (PPV) events in the US, with the first event anticipated for March 2024. PBC PPV fights will be available for all viewers to purchase, regardless of Prime membership. In the US and select countries, Prime Video will exclusively stream a PBC Championship Boxing series of events, showcasing top matchups among boxing’s current and rising stars,” PBC
“Premier Boxing Champions is very proud to partner with Prime Video to showcase our world-class boxers and events. With Prime’s incredible reach and unprecedented marketing power, we’re very excited to reach new audiences for our sport as we continue to present the most exciting, competitive and biggest fights in Boxing,” Bruce Binkow (Integrated Sports) said
The network deal and Davis’ new title have opened up the 135-pound division further, setting up a crucial period for the boxer. ‘Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com’
