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Philippines, 20 Mar 2026 |
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What’s Gervonta “Tank” Davis' Next Move After Jake Paul Fight? By Ralph Rimpell PhilBoxing.com Mon, 06 Oct 2025  Last March 1, 2025, Gervonta “Tank” Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) defended his WBA lightweight (135 lbs) championship against Lamont Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs), the WBA junior lightweight (130 lbs) champion, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Tank was expected to dominate Roach as he had dominated his previous 30 opponents. However, to many observers, Tank did not appear particularly motivated and spoke of fighting only a few more bouts before retiring from boxing. The fight turned out to be highly competitive between the two champions. In the 9th round of the scheduled 12-rounder, Tank took a knee from what appeared to be a jab by Roach, then turned his back and walked to his corner to ask his trainer and cornermen to wipe hair grease that had gotten into his eye. According to boxing rules, the referee should have ruled Tank’s knee a knockdown. Many observers also felt the fight should have been stopped and ruled a TKO in favor of Roach when Tank turned his back and went to his corner without the referee’s permission. Regardless of the missed call, had the referee ruled the knee a knockdown, Roach would have won a decision on the judges’ scorecards instead of the fight ending in a majority draw. At the post-fight press conference, it was unclear whether Tank would grant Roach an immediate rematch. Rumors swirled that Tank might instead face former actor and YouTuber-turned-professional boxer Jake Paul. Still, there was also talk of a rematch with Roach due to the controversy surrounding their first fight. After an unsuccessful appeal by the Roach camp to have the New York State Athletic Commission overturn the majority draw to a Roach victory, speculation grew about three possible rematch dates—but no official announcement followed. Fans eagerly awaited confirmation. Meanwhile, Tank faced legal issues related to his personal life, which have since been resolved. With those matters behind him, an official announcement was finally made: Tank Davis will face Jake Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) in a 10-round exhibition bout at a catchweight of 195 lbs instead of a rematch with Lamont Roach. Tank usually fights at 135 lbs, while Paul last fought in the cruiserweight division (200 lbs), weighing in at 199.4 lbs against former WBC middleweight (160 lbs) champion Julio César Chávez Jr. last June. The fight is scheduled for November 14, 2025, in Florida and will stream live on Netflix. Reports indicate Tank will earn a career-high purse of $40 million, while Paul will reportedly make $60 million. Tank’s payday is likely far higher than what he would have received for a Roach rematch. Hardcore boxing fans, however, hope Tank will return after the Paul exhibition to face opponents such as Lamont Roach in a rematch or WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson in a unification bout. There has also been talk that future Hall of Famer and multi-division world champion Manny Pacquiao—who has previously expressed interest in fighting Davis—could be a potential opponent. Two Major Considerations 1. The size disparity between the fighters. When Jake Paul fought former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson last year, he officially weighed 227.2 lbs—his heaviest to date. When Tank last fought Roach, he weighed in at 133.8 lbs. As the saying goes in boxing, “Weight classes exist for a reason.” Paul (cruiserweight/heavyweight) is much bigger and stronger than Tank (lightweight). Although Paul has never won a professional world championship, he appears to improve with each fight. To prepare for Tank, Paul has stated he will spar with top professionals, including WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson. Former middleweight J’Leon Love, once Tank’s stablemate, is also helping Paul train. Tank is undoubtedly quicker, but the size and power gap raises serious questions. What if Paul times Tank coming in and lands a perfect right hand on his chin? Imagine a 195-lb man hitting a 135-lb opponent with full force. Can Tank withstand that kind of power? If Paul scores a knockdown, will Tank recover? Is Tank strong enough to keep Paul off him for ten rounds? The skill disparity could, however, define the fight. Davis could outbox Paul for ten rounds and win a decision while avoiding danger. Even though the match is officially an exhibition, three judges will score it, and both fighters are expected to try to win. If there is no knockout or TKO, the bout will go to the scorecards—or possibly be ruled a draw. This writer doubts Paul will try to outbox Tank. Instead, Paul will likely “go for the fences,” as the baseball term goes—swinging for a home run by trying to knock Tank out cold in front of a global Netflix audience. On the other hand, Tank could stop Paul late with an accumulation of punches. 2. The massive $40 million purse. Tank’s rumored $40 million purse puts him in the “super fight” bracket alongside Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis, Mayweather, Pacquiao, Fury, Canelo, and Crawford—fighters who earned similar sums at their peaks. Assuming Tank emerges unscathed from the November 14 exhibition (win, lose, or draw), the question is whether he can command a similar purse for future fights against Shakur Stevenson or Lamont Roach—two matchups hardcore fans truly want. It seems unlikely he would accept significantly less. That could lead Tank either to retire or to pursue only “super fight”-level events—perhaps even a blockbuster against Manny Pacquiao, should Pacquiao defeat WBA welterweight champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero in their rumored 2026 bout. In any case, November 14, 2025, will be a pivotal date. Only then will boxing fans see what comes next for Gervonta “Tank” Davis after facing Jake Paul. Boxing Notes Former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman will challenge WBC junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora on October 25, 2025. Thurman is 36 and the past few years has been inactive due to injuries. Fundora on the other hand is 27 years old and is currently, “the man” at 154lbs to beat. After a devastating knockout loss to Brian Mendoza in 2023, Fundora has reeled off 3 impressive wins. Coincidentally, it was Fundora who replaced Thurman who withdrew from a Tim Tszyu fight due to an injury and Fundora won by split decision in 2024. He knockout out Chordale Booker in 2025. Then in his next fight in a rematch won a spectacular TKO victory over Tszyu when Tszyu surprisingly quit in the 7th round! However, fight fans should not count out Thurman’s chances of victory over Fundora as he is highly skilled and has lot of experience…There is talk that former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence will make his long-awaited return to boxing against the winner of Fundora vs Thurman fight sometime in 2026. Spence has been inactive since his loss to Terrance Crawford back in July 2023. Let’s see what happens. ***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history. "I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.  |
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