Davis at Crossroads as He Prepares to Leave Mayweather Promotions

Undefeated three-weight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis is heading toward an important juncture in his career as he prepares for his last fight under Mayweather Promotions. Now 27, many people believe that it’s the perfect time for Davis to step out of Floyd Mayweather Jr’s shadow as he seeks to carve out his own path. Whether Tank will choose another promoter or decide to go independent remains to be seen, and fans will be hoping his next move takes him closer to the biggest fights in the lightweight division. Potential future opponents include George Kambosos Jr, Teofimo Lopez, Vasily Lomachenko and Devin Haney. However, before thinking about lucrative future bouts, Davis must overcome the challenge of Rolando Romero, an unbeaten up and coming fighter with a 14-0 record. Davis is expected to make easy work of Romero, with experts like those at OddsChecker, whose extensive list of risk-free no deposit bets can be used to back Tank, placing him as the overwhelming favorite.

Mayweather deal

Davis made his professional debut in 2013 at the tender age of 18, a year after he won the 2012 Golden Gloves championship at bantamweight, which capped off an impressive amateur career featuring three consecutive Silver Gloves wins, two Junior Olympic gold medals and over 200 wins. That first professional fight lasted just under a minute and a half, which was a sign of things to come from a fighter who has since built up a record of 24 knockouts from 26 fights.

The Baltimore native won another 10 fights in just over 2 years with only one going the distance in that time. After going 11-0 Tank gained the attention of Floyd Mayweather Jr who signed him to his promotion company after seeing him spar just once. Davis continued his knockout streak under Mayweather Promotions and won the IBF super featherweight title against Jose Pedraza in his 17th fight at the Barclays Center in New York. He defended this title once before being stripped of it due to failing to make weight before knocking out Francisco Fonseca in his next fight.

Being stripped of his title served as a wake-up call to a young Davis who struggled with discipline and other problems outside of the ring. He won the WBA super featherweight belt against Jesus Cuellar in April 2018 and added the WBA (regular) lightweight title to his collection just 20 months later. Despite his successful career so far, Davis has often showed signs of frustration under Mayweather Promotions, with several of his Twitter rants and post-fight interviews grabbing headlines for their inflammatory nature. The majority of Davis’ complaints come from his frustration at Mayweather’s attempts to guide his career in a similar direction to his own. The 50-0 former champion notoriously chose fights carefully so as to maximize his earnings while building his reputation steadily without too much risk. While this plan proved successful for Mayweather, it also led to criticism that he should have tested himself further and taken certain fights sooner. With reports that Davis will not be re-signing with Mayweather, fans are confident that they won’t need to aim those criticisms at him, as he should be able to have more influence on his next career steps.

Next promoter options

It would appear that Gervonta Davis has plenty of options on the table for him once he is out of his current deal. He is one of the most entertaining fighters in the sport thanks to his astonishing record of 26-0 with only two of those fights going the distance. Having headlined his own pay-per-view show just three times previously, the mission for Davis’ next promoter will be to solidify his status as a pay-per-view draw while securing the best fights out there.

Davis’ options appear to be down to the two main promoters in the sport, Matchroom and Top Rank. Matchroom and Eddie Hearn may be the most glamourous option as they heavily invest in marketing, which would certainly help boost Tank’s profile outside of the United States. They would no doubt be able to offer lucrative sums, thanks to their broadcasting deal with DAZN, the sports streaming service that is making waves in the boxing world.

Top Rank would be able to offer similar terms and boast a star-studded stable featuring several current and former world champions. However, Davis may be wary of joining a promoter that already features big names like Tyson Fury and Vasily Lomachenko, who’d take a lot of the limelight from him.

Another option would be going independent, which would be a risky option but one that could have massive rewards for Davis. It would allow him to be the master of his own destiny, free from the constraints of promoters and their restrictive deals ties to specific broadcasters. Davis is already a big name in the sport with a strong social media following and encouraging previous pay-per-view numbers, so he has plenty of reason to feel confident in making his own way.

Possible future fights

There are several fights that Davis’ fans feel should already have happened in his young career against fighters with similar records. The most talked-about and at this stage most likely fight is against Ryan Garcia, the 21-0 California native making waves in the lightweight division. He has won all but three of his fights so far by knockout, although there are question marks over the quality of his opponents.

Teofimo Lopez is another popular potential opponent for Davis in what would certainly be an entertaining matchup. After making his debut in 2016, Lopez raced to a 15-0 record to set up a meeting with Vasiliy Lomachenko, who he defeated in a shocking unanimous decision that shocked the boxing world. He lost his next fight to George Kambosos Jr by split decision but still has plenty to offer at the top level.

The spar that originally convinced Floyd Mayweather to sign Davis was actually against a 16-year-old Devin Haney, and the two have been constantly linked ever since. Haney is now 23 with an undefeated record of 27-0 and the holder of the WBC lightweight belt. He is scheduled to fight George Kambosos Jr for the WBA, IBF and WBO lightweight titles in June with the winner becoming the unified undisputed champion. It is believed to be a two or three-fight deal, but if Davis can play his cards right, he may be able to position himself to face the winner.