BoxRec

If Gervonta Davis isn’t required to make a mandatory title defense next, he could face a former champion in search of one last shot.



BS.com has learned through multiple sources that Yuriorkis Gamboa is being seriously considered as Davis’ next opponent. Whomever he faces, Davis is expected to return to the ring July 27 in a fight Showtime will televise from Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Davis’ hometown.

The 24-year-old Davis (21-0, 20 KOs) has a growing fan base, but he hasn’t boxed in Baltimore since his fourth professional fight. He stopped Rafael Casias in the second round of that July 2013 bout on the campus of Coppin State University.

Davis could use a credible opponent for his next fight, even if fans in Baltimore likely will fill the 15,000-seat Royal Farms Arena for Davis’ homecoming, no matter who he fights.

The Cuban-born Gamboa (29-2, 17 KOs) is past his prime, but the former featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight champion has won three straight fights since Robinson Castellanos surprisingly stopped him after seven rounds in their May 2017 bout in Las Vegas. Gamboa, 37, beat Mexico’s Miguel Beltran Jr. (33-7, 22 KOs) by unanimous decision in his last fight – a 10-rounder November 10 in Miami.

If Gamboa prices himself out of a potential shot at Davis, it’s also possible Davis could make a mandatory defense of his WBA “super” 130-pound championship against Ricardo Nunez.

Panama’s Nunez was scheduled to encounter Edner Cherry in a fight Showtime was to televise March 2 from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Bahamas’ Cherry (37-7-2, 19 KOs) withdrew from that bout because he reportedly lost consciousness during a training session and was taken to a hospital.

Gamboa is not ranked in the WBA’s top 15, a requirement for a title shot. He is, however, a former WBA 130-pound champion and wouldn’t necessarily need to win another bout before boxing Davis to appear in the WBA’s rankings in that division.

Andrew Cancio owns the WBA’s “world” super featherweight title and could be a future foe for Davis. The Blythe, California, native isn’t an option for Davis’ next fight because he likely is headed toward an immediate rematch with Puerto Rico’s Alberto Machado (21-1, 17 KOs), whom Cancio (20-4-2, 15 KOs) upset by fourth-round knockout to win that title February 9 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

Gamboa is most entertaining cuban boxer ive saw. Too bad he faded so much last years. Dams i wish him miracle to win this

If not Gamboa, perhaps Juanma Lopez is still available.

Final big payday for Gamboa, I reckon.

I'd prefer to see Davis in with someone more faded. Or at the very least an amputee.

Ezzard wrote: ↑13 Apr 2019, 06:50 I'd prefer to see Davis in with someone more faded. Or at the very least an amputee.

Whilst some of these names he's fighting are decent on paper, the current crop of boxing fans won't appreciate any of it.. not that we should.. He's going to do exactly what Mayweather did and that is to fight certain boxers 'at the right time'..

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Apr 2019, 07:54 Whilst some of these names he's fighting are decent on paper, the current crop of boxing fans won't appreciate any of it.. not that we should.. He's going to do exactly what Mayweather did and that is to fight certain boxers 'at the right time'..

Agreed, there will be little in the way of reaching for greatness anytime soon. Gonna be a slow burn and hype each step on the path. Likely to be highly successful but a very instagram age type of career.
I'm not particularly looking forward to the process being repeated but good luck to him.

pablothunder wrote: ↑13 Apr 2019, 08:45 Agreed, there will be little in the way of reaching for greatness anytime soon. Gonna be a slow burn and hype each step on the path. Likely to be highly successful but a very instagram age type of career.
I'm not particularly looking forward to the process being repeated but good luck to him.

He doesn't even generate good viewership numbers on Showtime.

Should stick him on FOX and see how hew does.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Apr 2019, 07:54 Whilst some of these names he's fighting are decent on paper, the current crop of boxing fans won't appreciate any of it.. not that we should.. He's going to do exactly what Mayweather did and that is to fight certain boxers 'at the right time'..

He has fantastic year 2017, when he defeated 3 very good undefeated oponents.

Cent0089 wrote: ↑13 Apr 2019, 10:05 He has fantastic year 2017, when he defeated 3 very good undefeated oponents.

Pedraza was a good win, Walsh was not on his level and the Fonseca fight was a farce..

As you said though, 3 undefeeated boxers and they were 3 good wins.

That was 2 years ago and he has fought twice since.

April 2018 and now again Feb 2019.

He can fight 3 times this year. He's looking to return here in July, he should if he's not injured too much, come back out around November.. Why not..

Ellerbe said they had a big plan for Davis for 2019.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Apr 2019, 07:54 Whilst some of these names he's fighting are decent on paper, the current crop of boxing fans won't appreciate any of it.. not that we should.. He's going to do exactly what Mayweather did and that is to fight certain boxers 'at the right time'..

He's not going to be Mayweather. He's going to get beat before he turns 30. He's not disciplined enough to be Mayweather.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Apr 2019, 10:19 Pedraza was a good win, Walsh was not on his level and the Fonseca fight was a farce..

As you said though, 3 undefeeated boxers and they were 3 good wins.

That was 2 years ago and he has fought twice since.

April 2018 and now again Feb 2019.

He can fight 3 times this year. He's looking to return here in July, he should if he's not injured too much, come back out around November.. Why not..

Ellerbe said they had a big plan for Davis for 2019.

Big plans. Unfortunately today boxing is too much talk and too little action :-/

Cent0089 wrote: ↑13 Apr 2019, 10:50 Big plans. Unfortunately today boxing is too much talk and too little action :-/

Big fights taking a long time to make isn't exactly uncommon. The era when Ali was fighting Frazier and all the best were fighting the best with regularity is kinda the exception more than it is the rule. In the early 20th century the biggest fights would often take numerous lengthy negotiations before they ever happened.

The sport as a whole never really had the best fighting the best ALL the time. There are some fighters that do that with regularity, and they're the ones usually with the most legendary status amongst us fans.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑13 Apr 2019, 10:55 Big fights taking a long time to make isn't exactly uncommon. The era when Ali was fighting Frazier and all the best were fighting the best with regularity is kinda the exception more than it is the rule. In the early 20th century the biggest fights would often take numerous lengthy negotiations before they ever happened.

The sport as a whole never really had the best fighting the best ALL the time. There are some fighters that do that with regularity, and they're the ones usually with the most legendary status amongst us fans.

I know i know :) ....still dissapointing sometimes

Vasiliy Lomachenko: Gervonta Davis is the best fighter on Twitter

At last night’s post-fight press conference, a reporter was looking to ask Vasiliy Lomachenko about his next fight, noting that Lomachenko had brought up Mikey Garcia in the ring after beating Anthony Crolla.

The reporter mentioned super featherweight titleholder Gervonta Davis, and promoter Bob Arum jumped in before the question could even fully develop.

“Ask Floyd Mayweather! He said the kid isn’t ready yet for the fight! Floyd Mayweather is his promoter,” Arum said, or perhaps scolded. “Floyd Mayweather, of anybody, knows about boxing. The question of whether Gervonta Davis is ready to fight a master like Loma should be put to Floyd Mayweather. Let him answer that question. Don’t ask stupid stuff about Gervonta Davis when his promoter says he’s not ready!”

But the Arum rage is not the highlight here. That comes from Lomachenko, who let Arum finish, and timed his follow-up.

“But, you know, I think Gervonta Davis is the best fighter on Twitter,” Lomachenko said.

I wish Lomachenko would make his mind up. It was almost exactly a year ago when Vasyl claimed the Davis bout didn’t interest him.

And at the time, Loma also mocked Gervonta’s alleged terms for agreeing to the bout, with the American wanting it to headline a PPV event, by claiming that the ‘Tank’ wasn’t a big enough name yet.

Lomachenko also said last year that the bout could only be made if Davis made the jump from 130lbs to 135lbs.

I’m guessing that the reason for the Ukraine’s 180-degree U-turn in his stance is his realisation about his age, with his advanced years compelling him to goad Gervonta into accepting the fight now, rather than in 18 months’ or so time.

If I was the handlers of the 24-year-old Gervonta Davis, I would assume that a 33-year-old version of Lomachenko would be much easier to defeat than the current iteration. Also, allowing the demand for the fight to “marinate” for another year or so would probably provide a better payday for both fighters.

The problem that Bob Arum has to deal with is the ESPN versus Showtime/Fox political situation, because it means that Top Rank have to spend an awful lot of money to cover fights between Vasyl Lomachenko and the likes of Gervonta Davis and Mikey Garcia.

It’s easier for Arum to assign the blame to greed, cowardice and Al Haymon for the reasons why certain fights aren’t being made, rather than simply admitting to Top Rank’s refusal to dig deep into their pockets to pay for the rights to stage those expensive high-profile bouts.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Apr 2019, 07:54 Whilst some of these names he's fighting are decent on paper, the current crop of boxing fans won't appreciate any of it.. not that we should.. He's going to do exactly what Mayweather did and that is to fight certain boxers 'at the right time'..

Gamboa gets smoked.

diddy wrote: ↑24 Apr 2019, 21:01 Gamboa gets smoked.

Would still be a good fight?

Should be fun while it lasts!

Gervonta Davis vs. Ricardo Nunez is Ordered By The WBA

Gervonta Davis will face Yuriorkis Gamboa in December after all.

Multiple sources have confirmed to BS.com that the Davis-Gamboa bout has been scheduled for December 28. Showtime will televise Davis-Gamboa as the main event of a tripleheader that night.

The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger first reported Wednesday night that the Davis-Gamboa bout will air December 28 on Showtime. State Farm Arena in Atlanta is a potential site for the card headlined by Davis-Gamboa, but it hasn’t been finalized.

Davis versus Gamboa appeared headed for a January date on Showtime. The premium cable network has remaining money in its 2019 budget, though, because FOX will distribute the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz heavyweight championship rematch on pay-per-view November 23.

There will now be two “Showtime Championship Boxing” cards in December.

The first telecast, which was officially announced Friday, will feature WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo in the main event December 7. Houston’s Charlo (29-0, 21 KOs) will defend his title against Australia’s Dennis Hogan (28-2-1, 7 KOs) that night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Davis, meanwhile, will fight for the third time within this calendar year.

By Keith Idec

Decent card for end of the year.