Hearn: Low PBC Offer Could Jeopardize Davis vs. Roach Fight
Eddie Hearn has given his reasons for why Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr. could be delayed until next year.
Davis is scheduled to fight Roach Jr. on December 14 from Houston, Texas, in a defense of his WBA Lightweight Title. He stopped Frank Martin in his last fight. It was his first win in over a year since beating Ryan Garcia. Davis has received a lot of criticism over his choice of opponent. He was linked with fights against Vasiliy Lomachenko and Shakur Stevenson. However, Loma’s team confirmed that they had no motivation for taking that fight now. Meanwhile, Shakur is currently injured, preventing that fight from getting made.
However, Davis could have made those fights long ago to prevent this criticism. The decision was made to face Roach Jr., the WBA champion at 130 pounds. Davis has already beaten a fighter who moved up from 130 and a former champion in the form of Hector Garcia. Roach Jr. has already beaten Hector Garcia, meaning Davis will fancy his chances. Dan Rafael confirmed that there are issues with the venue, so there have not been any press releases or conferences. The reporter indicated that it is 50-50 as to whether this fight currently goes ahead this year.
Hearn Reacts
However, Hearn has given his take on the matter. The Matchroom Boxing promoter revealed that it could be due to how much Davis wants from the fight. Hearn said that the fight may not make as much as compared to other previous bouts. Tank may have made $15 million to fight Martin, so he would want more to face Roach Jr., who is seen as a tougher opponent.
This is especially true since Hearn said he had offered Davis a guaranteed $15 million and PPV upside to fight Conor Benn. Davis turned that down, there is an expectation that he wants a better deal. While Hearn has suggested this could be the case, he did admit that this is all speculation, as he had nothing concrete to base this on.
“I’m not saying that happened, but that’s something that definitely can be happening because that’s a very natural process. I’m not saying it’s actually PBC’s fault because they couldn’t deliver him a big fight, but it’s a tough fight, kind of. He’ll be saying, ‘This is a tougher fight than Frank Martin, and I got $15 million to fight Frank Martin. You’re telling me I’m only getting five or six [million] to fight this guy. I’m not fighting for five or six million.’ Maybe. Speculation,” Hearn said
However, if Davis cannot secure the funds he wants to fight the big names with PBC, he may look elsewhere. The rise of the Saudis into the sport of boxing has given fighters more choice. The Saudis also have partnerships with Matchroom Boxing, Top Rank, BOXXER, and Golden Boy Promotions, suggesting that the boxing landscape is shifting away from PBC.
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