Terence Crawford, a well-known boxer, took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice his concerns about the fight's officiating. He said:
"I never saw someone take a knee and not have it counted as a knockdown. I must have forgotten the rules for tonight."
Crawford's comment suggests that if the referee had counted this as a knockdown, the judges' scorecards might have favored Roach instead of resulting in a draw.
To back up his point, Crawford brought up a fight from 2002 between Floyd Mayweather and Gennaro Hernandez. He pointed out:
"Some of you should watch Mayweather vs. Hernandez and see Mayweather take a knee because he hurt his hand and it was called a knockdown and not a punch"
In that fight, Mayweather lost a point for a knockdown in the sixth round but still won by unanimous decision, becoming the WBC super featherweight champion.
Boxing rules say a knockdown happens when any part of a boxer's body besides their feet touches the canvas. Slips don't count as knockdowns. The referee must signal a knockdown to the judges for their scorecards. Judges can't record a knockdown based only on what they see - they need the referee's call.
The WBA stepped in to defend referee Steve Willis' decision. They said Willis' call wasn't unreasonable or unjustifiable because he thought Davis hadn't been hit by a punch before he fell. So, in the referee's view, there was no knockdown to record.
This controversy has got boxing fans talking. It shows how even small decisions in the ring can have a big impact on a fight's outcome and highlights the ongoing debates about rules and officiating in boxing.