Gervonta Davis checks all of the boxes to become one of, if not, the premier star in boxing. But what could halt Davis' path to the destination is his inability to make weight in some of his most significant moments.
Davis defended his IBF junior lightweight title against Francisco Fonseca in the co-main event of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Conor McGregor fight in August 2017 that generated over 4.3 million pay-per-view buys. At the weigh-in, everyone on the card, including Fonseca, had hit the scale except for Davis. A short time after the weigh-ins concluded, the Baltimore native tipped the scales at 132 pounds, two pounds over the junior lightweight limit. The IBF stripped Davis of the title.
In his highly anticipated debut at lightweight against Yuriorkis Gamboa for the WBA (regular) belt in December, Davis missed weight once again, coming in at 136.5 pounds, 1.5 pounds over the mark. Due to it being a championship fight, Davis had time to make the limit and weighed 134.5 pounds. Davis proceeded to win by 12th-round TKO. Now, in what will be his career highlight to this point, Davis will take on four-division world champion Leo Santa Cruz on Halloween night at the Alamodome in San Antonio for Santa Cruz's WBA (super) junior lightweight and Davis' lightweight championship, even though the contracted weight limit is 130 pounds.
The most prominent question pundits have coming is whether the 25-year-old can win the battle with the scale?
"Gervonta Davis definitely will make the weight," Davis boldly said on a Tuesday conference call to promote the Santa Cruz fight.
When boxers move up a division, they rarely go back down in weight. Roy Jones Jr. was never the same after jumping up two weight classes to defeat John Ruiz to claim the WBA heavyweight title and then moving back down to light heavyweight for his next bout against Antonio Tarver. Jones struggled to make weight and narrowly won the fight but the weight cut took a toll on him as he lost subsequent fights to Tarver and Glen Johnson.
"Tank" doesn't see himself going down the same path. Davis believes his energy will be right where it needs to be and is not concerned with the weight cut after having an extended camp at the Mayweather Boxing Club.
"We just gotta wait and see," Davis said. "This camp has been great for me. You know, I'm already at weight, as you could see. I'm not big. I've just been working hard. Our camp is not worrying about weight. Our camp is worrying about Leo Santa Cruz and giving him a great fight come October the 31st. That's what we're worrying about, and getting them big checks, that my team that put me in position whereas though I'm gonna be able to get them big checks. So, we just ready."