Investment Protection: The Strategy Behind Gervonta Davis’ Career

Stephen A. Smith is upset that Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis has opted to defend his WBA lightweight title against super featherweight Lamont Roach in their next fight on March 1 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. York.

Commentator Stephen A thinks Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) should fight guys at 135 or 140 instead of picking a smaller, weaker fighter like Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs).

Investment protection

Fans have the same argument, but that doesn’t stop Tank from making this move. There are enough people willing to buy their events on PPV that they keep making these kinds of mismatches.

The former Tank Davis, promoted by Mayweather, has been brought in one low performance mode to make safe fights, look great against overmatched opposition, and ultimately make a lot of money but not too much consistently huge money. Because of its management, it has been like an oil well, saved pumping oil slowly not to be dry.

“I think Roach is too small, and that’s my problem. I’m not questioning his skill set or anything like that,” said Stephen A. Smith Sean Zitteltalking about his view on Gervonta Davis defending his WBA lightweight title against Lamont Roach at 130 pounds on March 1st.

“He was similar to Frank Martin. This guy goes in there and you’ve got 18 fights. I remember watching his pre-fight press conference, and he was bothering Gervonta Davis so much. He knew Gervonta was coming for him, and sure enough, That’s what he did. He walked towards him from the first round.

“I remember what he said and it really hit me. Gervonta’s a smart guy, bro. He said, ‘Seriously, you should have waited. You don’t have enough experience. You really should have waited and taken your time before coming to me,’ and that’s what Gervonta Davis told him. He was right. He was absolutely right,” said Stephen A.

Smith should understand that Frank Martin is 29 years old, he fought Artem Harutyunyan in his previous fight before he fought Tank, and he couldn’t afford to turn down a mega payday against him. If Martin is having massive trouble against an Artem like Artem, he’s not about to wait three to five years to gain enough experience to fight Gervonta. By then, the Baltimore native would be long retired, and Martin won many times because he’s not that good.

“So, here we are now, fighting this guy Roach, and I’m like, ‘Isn’t this guy a junior lightweight (correction: super featherweight) moving up to lightweight? No, there is no (opportunity for him). This bothers me, and the reason it bothers me is because Gervonta is too big and too skilled to fight smaller men than him.

“Gervonta can eliminate welterweight. He can probably knock out a couple of middleweights, okay? Why do you fight with someone smaller? The only time I approve of big champions fighting smaller guys is when you’re not known for your power,” Smith said.

Tank can’t knock out middleweights unless they’re bottom fighters, and he doesn’t stop any of the quality welterweights.

If Stephen is talking about a paper champion at 147, like Mario Barrios. Yes, Tank has already shown that he can stop this guy, but he hasn’t beaten anyone since moving up to 147, other than a very exhausted and rusty Yordenis Ugas.

“You’re basically using your superior skill set and proving against a smaller, faster guy that skills don’t dissipate. But if you’re a bigger guy and you’re clearly the power guy, that just puts somebody at a distinct disadvantage, and I think this is unfair.

“That’s the way I see it, and that’s what bothers me about Gervonta fighting this guy. There’s Teofimo Lopez at 140. Fight that brother. Fight somebody your size or bigger,” Smith said.

The business of boxing

This is an example of Smith’s revelation which is only one casual fan with basic knowledge of the sport His forte is obviously basketball and football rather than boxing.

It seems clear that Stephen A. does not recognize how Tank Davis’ career has been orchestrated by his promoters and management. It’s not that he couldn’t fight the best of his size or bigger, it’s just that there was too much at stake. It was easier to take low risk fights.

The former Mayweather-promoted Gervonta has moved carefully since the beginning of his career and nothing has changed. He’s never had a 50-50 fight, and he sure isn’t about to start now that he’s supposedly at the end with just three fights left before retirement.