Gervonta Davis’s match set to go on after domestic violence charge
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With one-punch knockout power and an abundance of spectacle, Gervonta “Tank” Davis has become among the most compelling and lucrative draws in boxing, often and violently dispatching opponents in the early rounds at a pace comparable to iconic heavyweight Mike Tyson.
However, as much buzz as Davis creates in the ring, the Baltimore southpaw has on many occasions created problems outside of it, clouding the growing legacy of the five-time world champion entering Saturday night’s highly anticipated main event at Capital One Arena in DC.
Davis (27-0, 25 KOs), 28, puts his WBA welterweight title on the line against Hector Luis Garcia (16-0, 10 KOs) in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions card that will airs on Showtime Pay-per-view.
Boxer Gervonta Davis is arrested for domestic violence
“A lot of these young people jump on a big stage very quickly, dealing with the limelight, the money, the attention,” said Stephen Espinoza, president of Showtime Sports. “Now that’s not an excuse for some of the things that Tank has been involved in, and of course we’re disappointed by that.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations behind the scenes and we’ve gone so far as to set some conditions to continue. At some point we expect those things to stop, or we’re going to have to make a more difficult decision, but I think at some point there’s a level of forgiveness and a recognition that he’s a work in progress, so I leave it at that. that little leeway, but only so much.”
The fight at Capital One Arena marks the first time a main event of this magnitude will take place in the District’s largest arena since Tyson’s swan song in 2005.
Much of the talk lately, however, has been about the latest in a series of run-ins with law enforcement by Davis, who was arrested Dec. 27 in Parkland, Fla., after punching a woman in the right side of her head. , according to an incident report from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident occurred at a home owned by a trust controlled by Davis, records show. Davis, according to the incident report, was booked on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence battery causing bodily harm after the woman, who does not live with Davis, suffered a scratch on the inside of her lip.
Released Dec. 28 on $1,000 bail, Davis vehemently denied the allegations in a since-deleted social media post. Two days later, Vanessa Posso, the previously unidentified victim and mother of Davis’ daughter, released a statement denying the allegations of domestic violence.
“The state of our relationship has been in a fragile space and Gervonta and I were both to blame for the argument,” Posso posted on her Instagram page. “While emotions were running high, I made an unnecessary call to law enforcement in an intense moment while in a frenzy.
“Gervonta didn’t hurt me and our daughter.”
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Other legal issues have dogged Davis over the past three years. In November 2020, he was accused of fleeing the scene of a crash in Baltimore while driving a 2020 Lamborghini Urus SUV. Among the four people involved in the crash was a pregnant woman.
Last September, a Baltimore County judge, according to the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, denied a plea deal that would have avoided jail time for Davis for the hit-and-run. A trial scheduled for December 12 was moved to February 16.
Other incidents include Davis being charged with simple domestic violence battery in Coral Gables, Fla., after a video showed him putting his hand around the neck of his daughter’s mother and pulling her from her seat in a charity basketball game in early February. 2020.
A year ago, a man sought a warrant for Davis’ arrest stemming from an encounter at the Tysons Galleria mall in McLean, Va. An initial report by TMZ said Davis shoved a police officer responding to the incident.
But according to WMAR-2 News in Baltimore, Fairfax County Police indicated that TMZ’s report was incorrect and that Davis did not confront officers at the scene. TMZ then reported that the case was dismissed in October 2019.
“I think it’s definitely a distraction for me because of all the backlash,” Davis said. “I mean there are a lot of trolls in the world. I mean it’s a part of life though. I guess it comes with the territory. I just have to find ways to keep myself focused.”
The controversies surrounding Davis have not diminished his popularity much, if at all, based on ticket sales. An announced crowd of 18,970, a record for a boxing match at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, witnessed Davis knock out Rolando Romero in the 6th round with a single punch.
It is also filled with buildings such as the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the State Farm Arena in Atlanta and the Alamodome in San Antonio, where Davis scored a sixth-round knockout of Leo Santa Cruz to retain the WBA bantamweight championship and light weight.
Davis’ career knockout percentage of 92.6 to date exceeds that of Tyson (88 percent), who won 24 of his first 27 bouts by knockout, although his fifth fight ended when his opponent, John Alderson, didn’t answer the bell after the second round.
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Only three of Tyson’s first 27 fights went the distance and 15 ended in the first round. Davis has had four fights go the distance, with eight first-round knockouts, most recently against Hugo Ruiz on February 9, 2019, in Carson, California, in defense of Davis’ WBA 130-pound title.
“You have to start with his ferocity in the ring,” Espinoza said. “And I think along with that is the dichotomy, a kind of shy, kind of reserved, almost baby-faced kid outside the ring who turns into a star the moment the curtain goes up, because if you go to his events, you don’t it’s just the performance in the Rings. It’s the spectacle and the energy.
“You know right away when you’re at an event like that, this is one of those guys who’s got it. Either way, he’s got it.”
