Vasily Lomachenko has broken off talks with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, deciding to take the remainder of the year off and return in 2025. The news has fans disappointed because they had hoped to see IBF lightweight champion Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) and WBA champion Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) meet in a two-belt unification match in November.
Negotiations Fall Apart
Last week, Lomachenko’s promoters at Top Rank and PBC officials met in Las Vegas to put together a deal for the Davis-Lomachenko contest for ESPN & Prime Video PPV. The deal collapsed when Lomachenko, 36, decided to take the remainder of the year off.
An official from PBC told ESPN that Lomachenko will defend his IBF 135-lb title in 2025. Lomachenko captured the vacant title with an 11th-round knockout of George Kambosos Jr. on May 12th in Perth, Australia.
There’s no word whether Lomachenko will revisit talks for a fight with Tank Davis when he returns to the ring in 2025. If collecting titles and making money is something Lomachenko values, a fight against Tank Davis would be the way to go.
Some fans note that Tank Davis and his team showed no interest when Lomachenko wanted to fight in 2018, choosing not to entertain the fight. But now that Lomachenko is 36, they’re eager to make the match, which suggests they feel the advantage is on their side.
Lomachenko had been out of the ring for a year since losing to Devin Haney by a questionable twelve-round unanimous decision on May 20th, 2023, in Las Vegas. Loma’s father convinced him to return after a year out to fight for the vacant IBF belt against Kambosos.
Lomachenko had been disappointed over the results of that fight, which was the third controversial loss of his career. His two previous were against Teofimo Lopez and Orlando Salido.
Gervonta Davis’ Next Fight
Davis will now look to find an opponent for him to defend his WBA title against later this year. It’s believed that Tank will choose from these three:
- Shakur Stevenson
- William Zepeda
- Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz
WBC lightweight champion Shakur is the one many fans want to see Tank Davis fight because he’s a former three-division world champion, 2016 Olympic silver medalist, and has a complex style to solve.
Shakur is the worst of the bunch regarding entertainment value, and if he chooses to stay on the move for twelve rounds against Tank, the fight could be unwatchable.
William Zepeda would be the most entertaining due to his power, pressure, and unbeaten record. However, he’s not well known by casual boxing fans, and it would take some selling to get fans interested.
Isaac Cruz was beaten by Tank Davis in 2021, so that takes some of the interest in a fight between him and the Baltimore native.
