Tank Davis begins training for his title defense against Lamont Roach

WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis has begun training to defend his title in 56 days against Lamont Roach on March 1 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Tank (30-0, 28 KOs) is working hard on his conditioning, knowing that Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs) will not be easy to knock out. He will most likely have to go to the later rounds against the 29-year-old Roach before he can score a stoppage.

Weight is not a problem

Gervonta already looks in good shape, with his weight down, and almost at fighting weight. When you contrast his looks with wrestlers like Keyshawn Davis, it’s like night and day.

Keyshawn looks like a big welterweight during his camps, but he’s somehow cut down to 135. Tank is a natural lightweight, and he’s not a heavyweight bully trying to game the system. Calvin Ford, Tank’s longtime trainer, was nowhere to be seen, and some wondered if he had parted ways.

“I can understand where he’s coming from. Things are different when you have kids. It changed your life. It completely changes your life,” said Leonard Ellerbe The Laboratory with Placediscussing Gervonta Davis’ decision to retire after three more fights.

“Look at things differently than you did six or seven years ago. If that’s what he said (he’s retiring) and we’ve all heard it. No, not at all. What you do is never good enough and sometimes , this can be frustrating.

“There’s more to life than something you do for a living. You have respect for the fans who pay their money to see you fight, but you have a life outside of boxing. They want you to keep doing that, and they really don’t care about your health afterwards.

Tank Davis can see a lot of fighters breathing his next, like Andy Cruz, Edwin De Los Santos and Keyshawn Davis. He may not feel confident that he can beat all or any of them. If he thinks he can win, he knows it’s going to be a tough fight for him, and he might not want to put in the effort.

“Boxing is a brutal sport. You see a lot of fighters from before; they were taken advantage of in many different ways. They went through a lot of health issues, a lot of permanent things. I understand the philosophy that you come into the sport and make your mark, and then you leave. Everyone’s opinion is different, and everyone has different goals in life,” Ellerbe said.

It will be interesting to see if Tank’s retirement is permanent or if he will return in six or twelve months when he gets bored or is offered a lot of money for a particular deck. Gervonta is so popular that it’s hard not to see someone offer him a lot of money for a big fight, and he agrees to take it.