Canelo Alvarez Comments on Gervonta Davis Controversy in Boxing

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has commented on the controversial Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach Jr fight which took place on the 1st of March at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Davis, one of boxing’s most thunderous punchers, took an extraordinary pro record of 30-0 (28 KOs) into the ring that night, having vanquished a number of prominent opponents, including Leo Santa Cruz, Ryan Garcia, and Frank Martin. Roach, by contrast to Davis, lacked the box office appeal and fanbase. However, he arguably gave ‘Tank’ the toughest test of his entire career through both his boxing, and his punching.

In the ninth round of the lightweight bout, Roach jabbed at Davis and the knockout artist seemingly took a voluntary knee. He then rushed to his corner, without the referee’s instruction, and a cornerman wiped the fighter’s face with a white towel. A knee in and of itself is typically ruled a knockdown, which carries an enforced 10-8 score to Roach for that round.

The towel incident could have risked disqualification. Yet the ref Steve Willis did neither, and considering how narrow the judges’ scorecards were, that one moment, if it had been referee’d properly, would have saw Roach score a seismic victory.

Now, Canelo has had his say. And, despite years of mutual respect between the fighters, the Mexican, this time, did not pull his punches.

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Mexican prizefighter did not pull his punches

Running the rule on the situation, Canelo said there should have been some kind of punishment for taking the knee and seemingly benefitting from an impromptu time-out. “He take a knee, he needs to lose like 10-8 that round, at least,” Canelo said during an appearance on the Ebro in the Morning podcast.

“I’m talking about the rules, but, you know, it’s not my business,” he finished.

Watch it right here:

Canelo and Tank have spoken respectfully about one another for years, and have admired each others’ careers from afar.

Right now, they have found themselves further apart as Tank remains a superstar in the US, boxing under the Premier Boxing Champions banner, on Prime Video. Canelo, meanwhile, has gone from Al Haymon’s PBC to Turki Alalshikh as he makes his Riyadh debut in Saudi Arabia on the 3rd of May, when he boxes the unheralded and largely unknown Cuban fighter William Scull.

Should Canelo defeat Scull as expected, then it paves the way for an undisputed super middleweight world championship fight between Canelo and Terence Crawford — two pound-for-pound sensations.

It is unclear where Tank goes from here. However, a rematch against Roach has been mooted.

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