For the better part of the past half-decade, Gervonta “Tank” Davis has become one of boxing’s premier attractions. However, with his ever-growing spotlight, Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) has also become a wanted man.
Although Davis has done his best to ignore the perpetual and audacious callouts, in some instances, the 27-year-old from Baltimore, Maryland, was left with no choice but to take his opponents up on their brazen offers.
After years of publicly chastising Davis to no end, Rolando “Rolly” Romero was given his wish. Ultimately, before the two went on to headline a Showtime pay-per-view event this past May in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, both Davis and his longtime trainer, Calvin Ford, warned Romero of a violent knockout, something that would come true in the sixth round.
Still, even with Davis leaving his man nearly motionless on the canvas, that hasn’t deterred Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) from demanding his own date against the hard-hitting multi-division champion. Yet, despite calling Davis to the carpet at every turn, Ford has incredulously rolled his eyes as he notices a familiar pattern in Garcia’s public pleas.
“He’s trying to take a page from Rolly, that’s all I can say,” said Ford during an interview with FightHype.com. “Last time he said he was gonna fight Tank, he didn’t fight Tank. So, right now we just sitting and waiting and what not to see what happens.”
The time in which Ford refers to, took place in the early stages of 2021. Following his seventh-round stoppage win over Luke Campbell, Garcia revealed that a showdown against Manny Pacquiao was quietly in the works, prompting him to move away from a matchup against Davis.
In the end, Garcia’s dreams were summarily shattered as his proposed bout against Pacquiao failed to come to fruition. Since then, Garcia has made two ring appearances, the latest coming against Javier Fortuna on July 16th earlier this year. In short and explosive order, Garcia discarded the former veteran champion via sixth-round stoppage before proceeding to poke and antagonize Davis once again.
In addition to Garcia, Vasiliy Lomachenko, a former two-time Olympic gold medalist and multiple-time champion, has long craved a showdown against Davis as well. Although the pound-for-pound star has spent approximately the past six months lending a helping hand in his native land of Ukraine in their fight against the Russian invasion, he’s now returned stateside and is tentatively scheduled to return to the ring in the fall against fringe contender Jamaine Ortiz.
Should Lomachenko emerge victoriously, Bob Arum, his longtime promoter, will look to match the former titlist against Devin Haney, provided Haney defeats George Kambosos Jr. in their immediate rematch.
Regardless of the direction of Lomachenko’s career, Ford, similarly to the way he views Garcia, is steadfast in his belief that both fighters, along with a slew of others, will face Davis when the time is right.
“It’s gonna happen. Listen to what I’m saying, all of those fights are gonna happen. It just gotta wait until the stars and the moons line up to make it happen.”