The boxing world is crying ‘robbery’ after an outrageous refereeing mistake saved Gervonta Davis from a shock defeat against Lamont Roach on Saturday night.
Davis, widely considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, was lucky to escape with a draw in a bout he was expected to win following a highly-contentious moment in the ninth round at Barclays Center.
After Roach landed a right hand, the WBA lightweight champion moved backwards before bizarrely taking a knee unprovoked and heading over to his corner, which he later revealed was to wipe grease out of his eyes following a recent hair appointment.
However, boxing fans were quickly left outraged when referee Steve Willis inexplicably failed to score it as a knockdown for the challenger, despite initially starting an eight-count.
The official stopped his count at two before he could be heard saying to Davis: ‘What’s going on man?’
After the champion tried to explain why he took a knee to briefly half the contest, Willis told him before resuming the fight: ‘I understand, but when you take a knee like that, it looks like a knockdown.’
The boxing world is crying ‘robbery’ after a huge refereeing mistake saved Gervonta Davis
Davis was spared a knockdown by referee Steve Willis despite taking a knee in the fight
Following that astonishing blunder, Roach was forced to settle for a majority draw thanks to two judges’ scores of 114-114 and a 115-113 verdict in favor of Davis.
If Willis had correctly called a knockdown in the ninth, the underdog would have emerged with a stunning upset victory in Brooklyn.
Two-weight undisputed king Terence Crawford led the online fury after the controversial result, insisting Roach was ‘robbed’ of a historic win on the night.
‘Roach won and that should have been called a knock down. Let’s see what happens,’ Crawford wrote on X before adding, ‘They robbed that boy and it’s crazy’.
He then explained in another post: ‘I never seen someone take a knee and they don’t count it as a knock down. Must of forgot the rules for tonight.’
Boxing fans are in complete agreement with Crawford, fuming that Davis was spared from a clear knockdown in the ninth round.
‘Robbed in broad daylight man. With cameras in every corner,’ said one user.
Another commented: ‘It should be a Knockdown. Roach won that.’
A third put: ‘Damn, all the sports getting rigged smh’.
A Davis supporter admitted: ‘Yeah. I’m a huge Tank fan, but I can’t defend this. I’ve never seen something like this before. Wild!’
‘Such a shame they robbed an underdog,’ concluded a fifth.
Another asked: ‘Is taking a knee allowed now?’
While one simply put: ‘Rigged’.
Gervonta’s former opponent Ryan Garcia also weighed in on the controversy, saying on X: ‘Lamont won that – Not calling that knockdown is the most wild thing I ever seen in boxing, that type of stuff makes boxing look bad’.
According to DAZN boxing reporter Chris Mannix, Davis – better known as ‘Tank’ – could even have been disqualified for taking a timeout to get his faced wiped by his corner.
‘Texting with three veteran boxing referees,’ Mannix revealed on X. ‘All agree: The knee should have been called a knockdown.
‘One noted that Tank could have been disqualified for getting his face wiped by his corner.’
Davis clarified after the draw – which goes down as the first blemish on his 31-fight record – that he merely wanted to wipe his face due to a burning sensation caused by a hair product running down into his eyes.
Davis claims he needed to head to his corner and have grease wiped out of his eyes
But Roach is adamant it should have been a knockdown, which would have earned him a win
‘I didn’t want to get caught while my eyes was burning,’ he stressed. ‘And you can’t get knocked out like that. So I’d rather take the knee. But I didn’t really know that you can, like, get the disqualified for all that. When [Willis] started counting, I’m like, “What the hell?”‘
Roach, meanwhile, believes he was robbed of a precious victory on the night.
‘If that’s a knockdown, I win the fight. I’m a little disappointed in the decision, I thought I pulled it out. I definitely thought I won. We can run it back,’ he said. ‘It’s a win for me in my book but we’re not satisfied with that, we need a real W.’
‘It should have been a knockdown. If that was knockdown, I win the fight. He’s saying grease got in his eye, but if he takes a knee and the ref starts counting, it should be a knockdown. It is what it is. I’m not banking on that knockdown to win. I just thought I pulled it out.’
