Tank Davis to defend lightweight title vs. Lamont Roach ; Fulton, Figueroa rematch on undercard

[Ledhed1]

Mike Coppinger, ESPN

Gervonta Davis will defend his WBA lightweight title against Lamont Roach on Dec. 14 in Houston.

Baltimore's Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) is coming off a spectacular eight-round KO of Frank Martin in June. The bout was Davis' first since a 44-day jail stint last summer for violating the terms of house arrest stemming from a November 2020 hit-and-run incident.

Davis, 29, was in negotiations to meet future Hall of Famer Vasiliy Lomachenko in a high-stakes bout this fall, but after talks collapsed, Davis ended up with a far less appealing bout.

Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs) will be moving up from 130 pounds, where he reigns as WBA champion. Against Davis, he'll be installed as a major underdog.

Roach, from Washington, D.C., won the title with a split-decision victory over Hector Luis Garcia in November. He retained his belt with an eighth-round TKO of Feargal McCrory in June.

Stephen Fulton and Brandon Figueroa will meet in a featherweight rematch on the Davis-Roach undercard.

When they fought in November 2021, Fulton defeated Figueroa via majority decision in one of the best fights of the year. That was a 122-pound title unification where both boxers entered the ring as champions. In the aftermath of his loss, Figueroa was adamant the decision was a "robbery."

Three years later, they'll meet at 126 pounds as former champions.

Fulton (22-1, 8 KOs) has fought three times since. The 30-year-old from Philadelphia moved up to 126 pounds last month to fight Carlos Castro. He was dropped in Round 5 but emerged with a split-decision victory.

That was Fulton's first bout since his Round 8 TKO loss last summer in a title unification with Naoya Inoue in Tokyo.

Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs), a 27-year-old Texan also competed three times since his loss to Fulton, all of them at 122 pounds. Figueroa defeated Castro by TKO in Round 6 of their July 2022 fight and also outpointed Mark Magsayo.

[selij]

Is it even worth watching the main event ?

[robprosser]

It's entirely possible that Davis ends his career without giving us any real indication of how good he is.

Edited Saturday at 05:47 PM by robprosser

[WelshDevilRob]

Stephen Fulton didn't look good last time-out, seems on the slide. Favour Figueroa, who is on a good run.

Gervonta is 29, and it's another ok fight rather than a big one. Wouldn't be surprised to see him face Devin Haney next year, as they can hype it up and Gervonta will ruin Haney's weak jaw.