The judges bailed out WBA lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs), scoring his title defense against Lamont Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) a 12 round majority draw on Saturday night in their bout at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The Sham Draw

Even with the horrendously poor scoring by the judges, Roach still could have won if not for the referee blowing a call in the ninth round when Tank took a knee after getting hit with a right hand.

After the fight, Gervonta said he had grease in his eyes that was irritating them, and he needed it to be wiped off. That excuse doesn’t fly and it’s shocking that the referee allowed Davis to get away with taking a knee after a punch had landed.

Roach appeared to win the fight, but the judges scored it a draw. That’s basically a win for the champion Tank, because it allows him to keep his WBA title and move on.

The Judges Scores

115-113: Tank Davis
114-114
114-114

Roach started slow in the first three rounds, but then came on strong beginning in the fourth, and hit Davis with counter right hands, and left hooks. He was standing at close range, waiting for Gervonta to throw so he could counter him.

Tank lost his composure in the last three rounds, and was using a variety of dirty tactics to get an edge. We saw low blows, shouldering, holding, and hitting. This stuff was just the tip of the ice berg. There was a whole bunch of other junk that Tank was doing, and getting off scot-free with the referee not lifting a finger to penalize.

Roach looked like a completely different fighter in rounds eight through twelve, because he was hitting Davis with shots and making him miss. There was a lot of talking back and forth between them. Davis looked like he wanted the referee to help him.