More often than not in professional sports, the superstars get the calls in crucial situations. You’ve seen it with LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Tom Brady.
Rarely, however, has it been as blatant as it was on Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in favor of Gervonta Davis.
Davis retained his WBA lightweight title via majority draw before a record crowd of 19,250 that came to see Davis bludgeon an unworthy challenger and instead got a stunningly competitive fight.
If this were hockey, they’d have announced the primary assist going to referee Steve Willis.
Judges Steve Weisfeld and Glenn Feldman each had it 114-114, while Eric Marlinski had it 115-113 for Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs). I had it 115-113 for Roach.
The fight was undeniably close, particularly since there was so little to choose between them in the first six rounds. Davis averaged just four punches landed through four rounds. Roach, hardly better in that span, averaged only five.
The early-going was little more than a brisk workout, and a non-compelling one at that.
It changed, though, when Davis stepped on the gas and Roach, a 16-1 underdog, refused to wilt.
Roach was every bit as tough as the big words he spoke before the fight. He stood toe-to-toe with Davis, reputed to be one of boxing’s biggest punchers, and he gave every bit as good as he got.
The outcome, though, swung on Willis’ non-call in the ninth round. Davis said grease from his hair gel was getting into his eye, and he voluntarily took a knee. He then walked to his corner as trainer Calvin Ford came up the steps with a towel.
Davis essentially called a 30-second timeout, forgetting the simple point that timeouts don’t exist in boxing. If he was worried about hair gel burning his eyes, maybe he shouldn’t have greased up in the first place.
At least Willis prevented Ford from giving Davis a shave and a haircut, but his decision to allow Davis to get away with that cost Roach the biggest night of his life and impacted the result of the fight.
The athletes should be the ones deciding the outcome, not the referee.
“If that’s a knockdown, I win the fight,” Roach correctly said.
There was never anything close to a knockdown in the fight, though Davis was buzzed a couple of times over the final four or five rounds.
He looked very much like a superstar who didn’t take his opponent seriously. He is always a slow starter, but this was ridiculous. He landed one punch in the first and just three in the second.
He picked up the pace, but he never looked like the guy who was -400 to win by knockout.
You don’t often see the A side calling for a rematch after escaping a close fight with his belt, but that’s what Davis did. He felt he won, and you can make an argument that he did without a knockdown being called, but let’s be real: It was a draw in the record books but a win in every other way for Roach.
Still, Davis tried to make a case for himself.
Esther Lin/Premier Boxing Champions
Lamont Roach (L) lands a jab on Gervonta Davis Saturday.
“I think I pulled it off over the last three rounds, for sure,” said Davis, who actually would have gotten the win had he won the 12th round on all three cards. “I pulled it out over the last three rounds. I was catching him with some clean shots. I feel like I was breaking him down as the rounds were going on.
“But he kept coming and I didn’t want to make no mistakes.”
Davis covered up mistakes in past fights by landing a left hand that ended the fight in that moment or left his opponent stumbling around the ring with rubbery legs.
Roach, though, was sturdy throughout and was seemingly unfazed by the pop in Davis’ hands, even though Roach was the one moving up a division for the fight.
Davis didn’t get a defeat, but his reputation took a beating and he lost a lot of luster.
We’ve seen this time and again down the years. Kirkland Laing — yeah, Kirkland Laing — once defeated Roberto Duran. Mike Tyson was a 42-1 favorite when he was stopped by Buster Douglas in 1990.
Davis survived the worst performance by far of his career without taking an L, but he was the loser in the court of public opinion. This was his crowd. They came out to see him, but when he said in the ring that the hair gel got in his eyes, the crowd booed lustily.
It knew a flimsy excuse when it heard it.
You can be sure that if Roach had taken a knee, Willis would have called it a knockdown.
They’ll undoubtedly fight again, and Davis will get the opportunity to prove this was all just one of those nights.
It happens, and it’s nothing to crucify him over. The guy remains a terrific fighter and one of the sport’s biggest attractions.
The referee, though, well, that’s a hard one to swallow. When his lack of a call on something so obvious and blatant changes the result, it’s more than an off-night.
Lamont Roach should be the new WBA lightweight champion.
Stunningly, Steve Willis, and not Gervonta Davis, is a bigger reason that he is not.
Esther Lin/Premier Boxing Champions
Lamont Roach fought the fight of his life, but still didn't take Gervonta Davis' title. The bout was a majority draw.