Gervonta Davis might face Manny Pacquiao in December, despite his recent legal troubles. The potential match-up has got fans talking, even as Davis deals with the fallout from a domestic violence arrest.
Davis, a 30-year-old Baltimore native, has seen his immediate future in boxing become uncertain. He's lost fans across the sport after police arrested him on a domestic violence charge. This arrest happened right after discussions about a possible fight with Pacquiao.
Before this setback, Davis had plans to defend his WBA Lightweight World Title against Lamont Roach Jr in a rematch. Their first bout ended in controversy. The rematch, originally set for August 16, has been pushed back and might not happen at all because of Davis' arrest.
On the other side of the potential match-up, Pacquiao's getting ready to fight Mario Barrios for the WBC Welterweight belt. If he wins, he'll break his own record as the division's oldest champion.
When asked about fighting Davis, Pacquiao said:
"I like the Davis fight, but let's finish Barrios first. It's nothing personal. I am just doing my job. One at a time. We'll talk about it after the fight."
Sean Gibbons, Pacquiao's manager, shared more details about the possibility of this dream match-up:
"That's the dream. We were close at one time to fighting Davis. We were talking but we couldn't come to an agreement on a couple things and the timing didn't work out.
If Pacquiao beats Barrios and Davis beats Roach, I think that's the fight. The people would be really intrigued. You couldn't sell it as much before Pacquiao fought Barrios because everyone was saying Gervonta is a beast, but Gervonta got exposed a little bit and had a bad night against Roach, and the shine is off a little bit. If Manny shows brilliance against Barrios, they are going to buy into a Tank fight in a heartbeat."
The potential December clash between Davis and Pacquiao depends on several factors. Both fighters need to win their upcoming bouts, and Davis needs to sort out his legal issues. Fight fans will have to wait and see how things unfold in the coming months.
