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Gervonta Davis took to social media to complain about not being invited by Turki Al-Sheikh to the Ring Awards event last Saturday in London. Davis seemed bitter about not being one of Turki’s invited fighters.
Turki’s election
WBA lightweight champion Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) said Al-Sheikh only invited people he “deals with.” What really drove him was seeing Shakur Stevenson between the fighters posing with Turki for a photo.
Shakur was prominently positioned for the photo, indicating his high status as a fighter among the group. Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia were also invited.
This must have got Tank’s kettle boiling because he doesn’t rate Shakur, who tends to get booed when he wrestles. He’s not in the same league as Gervonta in terms of entertainment, ticket sales and being a PPV attraction. Shakur is an early 2000s retro-Mayweather type who seems out of place in this age where fighters have to entertain or else.
However, Shakur’s signing with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom means he will be invited to Turki events and fight on his Riyadh season card next month on February 22. If Tank Davis had been with Hearn, he surely would have been invited. Shakur said in an interview last Saturday that Turki will be preparing a fight between him and Tank Davis soon.
“Why didn’t they invite everyone, but invited people they deal with. Out of here… Look at the little rat thinking he found something (Eddie Hearn) now tell them to fight each other as they have a heavy roster,” Tank Davis told X.
Tank Davis has said in the past that Turki Al-Sheikh would have to send “two Ferraris” to his front door as a starting point to begin negotiations to fight one of his cards. That didn’t happen.
“If they want me, they have to send something to my front door … like two Ferraris or something,” Tank Davis said in an interview.
Who’s in, who’s out
Fans who view it negatively would say that Turki has created a small club or clique of fighters that he selects and pays well for his huge cards.
Wrestlers who aren’t invited get left behind and don’t get the same spotlight to grow their careers. They stay on the sidelines and don’t make much money because they’re not in the club.
In sociology, there is “in group” and the “out of group”. Groupies form cliques, get invited to parties, and generally get the best of each other. The “outgroup” can’t get into the group unless they do something that sets them apart, like being successful at something.
