The Gervonta Davis Double Standard

Let’s face it, the boxing world is a microcosm of the real world, where just about everyone, at some point, is a hypocrite (although some are more proficient at hypocrisy than others).

Boxing may actually be even MORE insidious in that regard than the real world as racial animosity, nationalism, financial conflict of interest, and flat-out grift turn things up several notches.

So, with that in mind, let’s talk about Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

By the end of this piece, you’ll see why not “taking sides” and opting to just tell the truth generally makes a boxing writer wildly unpopular.

Okay…

There’s not only a double standard when it comes to how fighters are judged in boxing, but it could actually be said that there’s a TRIPLE standard.

There’s one standard for black fighters who are deemed “uppity,” either because of their public persona or their business alliances (and, yeah, I’ve seen a managing editor of a major boxing website refer to a black fighter as “uppity).

There’s another standard for black fighters who are not deemed “uppity.”

And then there’s a whole other standard for white fighters, regardless of their country of origin.

Take one fighter from each group, have them do the exact same thing, and watch how differently each is regarded.

Double Standards Outside The Ring

If we want to go beyond boxing, we could talk about Gervonta Davis’ domestic abuse allegations and how they threw media into self-righteous fits, inspiring one major media voice to pen a passionate, pearl-clutching “Boxing must take a stand” Sports Illustrated piece. Meanwhile, Dmitry Bivol’s domestic abuse allegation got, literally, no major media coverage at all. The Bivol story, which was actually more vile and aggressively awful, couldn’t get buried fast enough by media.

But let’s stick to boxing.

Double Standards Inside The Ring

Former two-division world champ Paulie Malignaggi recently took some shots at Tank Davis, bringing back the oft-repeated talking points regarding Davis ducking a prime Vasiliy Lomachenko that, not coincidentally, justify Lomachenko passing on a Davis fight in the present tense.

“He wanted the Lomachenko fight when Lomachenko was old,” Malignaggi told Boxing Social. “He didn’t want the Lomachenko fight when Lomachenko was in his prime…Let’s stick to the standard here. Lomachenko got tired of being used as an opponent, you know, because he was constantly fighting the best fighters possible.

“Now that he’s older, he got jobbed against Haney and he says ‘I’m gonna go back and be an opponent? That’s not what I’m gonna do. That’s not what I worked hard for.’ So, he’s probably gonna choose to exit the sport. You know what? He deserves it. He always chose to fight the best. He actually set the standard…Why is it that Eastern fighters always make the fights and Western fighters always somehow find an excuse?”

Mind you, this is from a Paulie Malignaggi who, not too long ago, went on a racial rant, insisting that “It’s no longer the time of the African American anymore in boxing…It’s the Eastern European that has become the dominant species in boxing.” Malignaggi is also the guy who, in a repeatedly internet-scrubbed episode of a Steve Kim and Mario Lopez-hosted podcast, chuckled (and drew chuckles) through his stated belief that George Floyd triggered the police officer who murdered him.

The reality in this Tank-Lomachenko issue is that the fight was just not a boxing-logical one to make for Team Davis back in 2016-2017, when critics insist it should’ve been made.

Lomachenko was in his prime, but Davis wasn’t. Davis had just hit the main stage world scene, capturing his first world title in early 2017. From the business side of things, a rising star is always allowed to rise before stepping up to a legacy-defining fight. From a sporting/competitive standpoint, a 22-year-old Davis was not ready for that kind of fight at that time. Asking Davis to fight Lomachenko at 22 is significantly more cynical than asking a 36-year-old Lomachenko to fight a 29-year-old Davis.

And, not to be too much of a stickler, also standing in the way of Tank-Loma were the repeated statements of Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum, who openly expressed his opposition to making an outside-the-house fight between his guy and Davis.

Boxing Business As Usual

The double standard in this Tank-Loma scuffle is that, if Tank DID try to “age out” Lomachenko before targeting him, it’s not exactly an uncommon practice. All main stage fighters have benefited from savvy matchmaking that puts them against the “right” opponents at the “right” time and under the “right” circumstances. Remember when a 28-year-old “prime” Lomachenko was matched against a 37-year-old inactive, two-divisions smaller, Guillermo Rigondeaux?

And, as for “Eastern fighters always make the fights?”

Let’s just refer you to Gennadiy Golovkin’s endlessly lauded run as an A-side fighter who fixated on just one money fight and responded to the challengers beneath him with a dismissive “let them fight each other.”

Now, let’s get to the other part of this Tank Davis issue– the part that will keep at least half the reading audience from sharing this article.

But, Still, Tank Davis Has Let Us Down

Gervonta Davis has never really given us the fights we want to see from him.

With the exception of the Ryan Garcia bout– which was really little more than a mismatch with big sales potential– Davis has never been matched against someone fans were clamoring to see. He’s fought good opposition, not nobody considered “great.”

At times, his matchmaking has almost felt antagonistic when it comes to the wishes of the general boxing public, like Team Tank is constantly issuing a terse, “This is the fight you’re getting, buy it” to fans.

Yeah, business can– and has– stood in the way of certain fights. But, if you’re in the star-building business, you have to find a way to make the fights that push you beyond your base. Fans are consumers and they want value for their money. By not giving them anything other than entertaining squashes against longshot underdogs, you’re treating loyal fans as suckers and creating animosity in those who might otherwise be won over.

Tank is a generational talent with a fan-friendly style who’s been moved so carefully that it’s created doubt and actual disdain.

But he is, indeed, working under a double standard, Nothing he’s done is outside the scope of regular boxing business. He is, however, judged more harshly than others– and it’s not entirely because of his high profile as a pay-per-view fighter.

Davis is judged– and also given a free pass by some– because of who he is, who he works with, and how he falls into the weird “culture warrior” dynamic infecting the sport, where race and boxing business have become boiled up into a foul broth that leaves everything with a bad taste.