Roy Jones Jr. feels that Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis has earned the right to face whoever he wants without the pressure of needing to face the best due to his being “must-see TV.”
Tank Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) is the ‘Face of Boxing’ right now, so he doesn’t need to fight top-shelf fighters like Shakur Stevenson or Devin Haney. Davis can fight anyone he wants, and fans will still pay to watch him fight because he’s got an exciting fighting style.
Roy says the boxing public will demand that the Baltimore native, Gervonta, face some big names soon, but in the meantime, why should he when he’s still attracting huge audiences?
Jones feels this could turn around and bite Tank on the backside if he waits too long, and Shakur and Haney outgrow him, making the fights impossible.
Haney is already growing, weighing in the mid-160s, and putting himself through agony to melt down to 140. Shakur also looks huge for the 135-lb division, and he could wind up at 147 soon.
The Power of Popularity
“Tank has been doing a great job of what he’s been doing, so he doesn’t have to call nobodies’ name. He’s fine because he’s must-see TV by himself. That’s what you want to be able to be,” said Roy Jones Jr. to Fight Hub TV when asked who Gervonta Davis needs to fight in his next two opponents to really be considered the star of the sport.
“If you’re must-see TV by yourself, it doesn’t matter who you fight. The rest of those guys need him. He don’t need them. So, for him, he can fight whoever he wants to fight.
“Yeah, they’re going to demand that he fights some names soon, but in the meanwhile, he fights whoever he wants to fight because why? He’s must-see TV, no matter who he’s in there against.
The Ticking Clock
“Yeah, you want to see him fight Shakur. Yeah, you want to see him fight Haney. Haney is probably going to outgrow him. Shakur ain’t going to be far behind that because he’s [Tank] short, and they’re not.
“So, if he’s going to fight one of them, he better hurry up and do it now because the longer he waits, the more it weighs in their favor. They’re both going to get bigger than him.
“So, maybe he’ll [Tank] go and fight Loma. They’re both still at 135. Why not go and fight Loma now? I don’t know. Tank is a very difficult guy to deal with. He’s got a lot of weapons and a lot of tools,” said Roy when asked if those guys beat Tank.
