Gervonta Davis, Lamont Roach call for rematch after controversial majority draw

This Roach didn’t scatter when the lights turned on.

In the biggest fight of his career, Lamont Roach more than held his own, proving to be an ultra gritty opponent for boxing superstar and WBA lightweight world champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and live on pay-per-view, Saturday night.

In fact, Roach became only Davis’ third opponent to last the distance as judges scored it 115-113 for "Tank," 114-114 and 114-114 for a majority draw — the first draw of Davis’ career much to the champion’s shock.

Despite the disbelief written on Davis’ face, many would argue that the champion was fortunate to escape the ring with his title in tow. That's because the ninth round had Davis taking a knee and scrambling to his corner to which referee Steve Willis started counting but inexplicably did not rule as an official knockdown. 

Davis would later explain that he had his hair done a few days prior and that grease from his hair seeped into his eye and that he couldn’t see, needing to get his corner to wipe his face with a towel.

Roach dismissed it.

"If you voluntarily take a knee and the ref starts counting, it should be a knockdown," Roach said during his post-fight interview. "If that's a knockdown, I win the fight."

Had the knockdown counted, Roach would have been credited a 10-8 round, giving him enough to win.

The scrappy affair being partly clouded by controversy had both men calling for a rematch.

"Hopefully, we could run it back, for sure," Davis said during his post-fight interview. "Bring it back to New York, let's do it again."

Roach added: "I definitely thought I won, but we could run it back."

Roach showed early in the fight that he could stand his ground with the undefeated "Tank," even after the champion seemed to dig to the body with success during the early to middle rounds.

As the bout went on, Roach exchanged shots with the knockout artist with more regularity and even wobbled him with a counter right hand in the eighth round.

After Davis took a knee in the ninth and it wasn't ruled a knockdown, the champion blasted Roach with explosive shots, though the Washington DC challenger returned fire at the champion from Baltimore.

Closely-contested rounds that followed had two of three judges calling the bout a draw, paving the way for them to want to run it back. 

Though Roach threw 121 more punches, Davis was more efficient in landing output, 37 percent to 28 percent.