By: Sean Crose
Gervonta Davis’ last fight was in March of 2025. His previous fight was in June of 2024. His previous fight before that was in April of 2023. Even by contemporary boxing standards, Davis doesn’t fight much. At the moment, Davis is not scheduled to fight anyone. He’s in the news, however, because there’s a warrant for his arrest in Delaware due to a reported parole violation. Unfortunately, fairly or unfairly, Davis is now known as a man who is perpetually in trouble with the law as much as he is a world class, highly decorated fighter (which Davis has repeatedly proven himself to be).
This isn’t a sympathy piece, however. Fortunately in this country people are innocent until proven guilty. When a person is repeatedly charged with crimes, some of them quite serious, however, eyebrows are apt to be raised. What’s particularly upsetting in the case of Davis is that he’s regularly accused of victimizing women. No one likes an abuser, but an abuser of women, particularly one who is a professional fighter, is particularly off putting. Again, Davis is only guilty when the American justice system says he is. The look isn’t a good one, though, especially with a widely seen video out there of Davis manhandling a woman at a basketball game a few year’s back.
Even if Davis were somehow innocent of most of the charges that have been lodged against him over the years (he’s pled guilty to charges related to a hit and run accident) one might still at this point have to see the man as a fighter on the verge of losing the elite standing he once held in the fight world. On top of not fighting a whole lot, Davis’ last fight was ruled a draw. There’s no shame in that, but many, if not most, felt that his opponent, Lamont Roach, deserved the judge’s nod after their twelve round battle.
None of this means Davis can’t at some point return to the ring to do what he does best. Sometimes the boxing public thinks more about what Davis hasn’t accomplished as opposed to what he has. A fighter, no matter how well supported or popular, doesn’t just randomly pick up world titles in three weight divisions. Some serious skill and hard work has to be involved. It’s also easy to forget that, while it’s popular to accuse Davis of not having (yet) faced the likes of Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney or Vasyl Lomachenko, he’s still bested such names as Rolly Romero, Ryan Garcia and Yuriorkis Gamboa – notables all.
What’s more, Davis isn’t the first – nor will he likely be the last – fighter to find himself in serious legal hot water. There’s Mike Tyson, of course, who went to prison after being convicted of rape. There also Muhammad Ali, who was convicted of not adhering to the draft. Jack Dempsey was likewise charged with draft evasion. Then of course, there’s Bernard Hopkins, who used his time while incarcerated to permanently turn his life around for the better.
All these men, though, were able to continue to box successfully after emerging from their legal issues. Sure enough, each one remained or became an enormous ring success. There’s no indication that Davis will walk away from the sport anytime soon. He’s also just thirty-one, which makes him rather young for a contemporary fighter. It’s still okay to wonder how he will look when he returns the sport which he has likely earned a fortune in, however. Legal issues clearly must be a huge distraction – just as long periods spent out of the ring must be. Time stops for no one.
