When a sold-out 17,000 crowd heard the final bell, no one could believe what they witnessed. Even though Gervonta Davis was celebrating confidently, everyone knew that the fight told another story. An even battle—where Lamont Roach took the WBA lightweight champion to the distance—will stay in fans’ memories for a long time.
However, more than the fight itself, which had some bright moments, the controversial refereeing decision in the ninth round has been imprinted in everyone’s mind. The controversy started when Gervonta Davis unexpectedly took a knee and walked toward his corner in the middle of the fight. And even though it should have been called out as a knockdown, referee Steve Willis let the fight continue. Moreover, he even stopped himself from counting ‘Tank’ out and let him go with just a warning.
The incident has sparked an outrage in the boxing community, including legends like Terence Crawford calling it out. As the chaos persisted, Floyd Mayweather‘s uncle Jeff Mayweather also shared his opinion on the drama. Well, let’s just say he was not kind to the parties involved.
Gervonta Davis’s camp under firing line
On Tuesday, Jeff Mayweather sat down on The Mayweather Channel and let his bitter feelings known. The legendary trainer was quite unhappy with how things went down and claimed, “If you go by the rules of boxing, it was a knockdown.” According to him, as soon as Gervonta Davis took the knee, it should have been counted as a knockdown. “That’s what they’re doing. They’re boxing so yeah, supposed to count it as a knockdown,” stated Mayweather Sr.
According to the 60-year-old, the punch that Lamont Roach connected with was not strong enough to knock Davis out. “One thing in boxing is that there are shots that people get hit with and then it’s a delay reaction. I wouldn’t say that because I don’t think that the punch was that big. It wasn’t a knockout punch or anything like that,” he said.
So, if Gervonta Davis has taken the knee on his own accord, he should be penalized for it. Mayweather added, “But still, when you take the consideration of doing that on your own, you’re supposed to be penalized for it.” The 60-year-old veteran also had a gripe to pick with Tank’s camp and wasn’t kind on referee Steve Willis as well.
A night to forget for Steve Willis
Ever since the fight, referee Steve Willis has been under massive fire from all over. Even His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has taken a jab at the New York-based referee. Mayweather Sr. did not hold back and called out the several mistakes that Willis made during such a big bout.
He said, “I think that the referee made quite a few mistakes.” The 60-year-old veteran was perplexed that Willis stopped his 8-count after starting it. As he has never seen something like this in his four-decade-long career. “I mean, once ‘Tank’ did what he did, he started an eight-count, but he stopped in the middle of giving him an eight-count,” he asked with a surprised look on his face.
According to Mayweather, Gervonta Davis’ camp should not even have been allowed to come to their fighter’s aid. However, doing that immediately without even permission needs to be reprimanded. “And then, he allowed Tank’s corner to assist him without even having them permission. So I mean yeah, there were a few things that was pretty bad in that fight,” stated the legendary trainer showing his disappointment in officiating.
According to several reports, NYSAC is reviewing the official decision and could even overturn the decision. And given the interview, Jeff Mayweather will definitely welcome the decision. Do you think Gervonta Davis should be reprimanded? Let us know your thoughts down below.
The post Gervonta Davis Faces More Heat as Floyd Mayweather’s Uncle Shoots on Referee’s Mistakes in Lamont Roach Jr. Draw appeared first on EssentiallySports.
