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Gervonta Davis explains why he took a knee

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated Mar 3, 2025 9:05 AM ET

Gervonta Davis is explaining what happened during a controversial moment against Lamont Roach Jr. on Saturday night.

Davis and Roach fought to a majority draw in their bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Davis took a hard punch from Roach in the 9th round and then went down to a knee. He then had someone in his corner towel off his head before he resumed fighting.

Many viewers couldn’t believe that Davis taking the knee had not been ruled a knockdown, which is typical when a fighter puts his knee on the canvas.

In his postfight interview, Davis explained what happened.

“I just got my hair done two days ago, and she put grease in my s–t,” Davis explained. “The grease come in my face, it burned my eyes.”

Davis didn’t appreciate fans booing him.

“Damn, why y’all booing like I’m saying bulls–t… They love you and then they hate you.”

You can see a video of his interview:

Gervonta Davis says he took a knee in the 9th round because there was grease in his eyes from his hair:

“Damn, why y’all booing like I’m saying bullsh*t…

They love you and then they hate you.”#TankRoach #Boxing pic.twitter.com/MqSdHiRl1b
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 2, 2025

Davis, who is now 30-0-1, addressed matters further with a post published on his X account Sunday.

“They took the fight from me and made it a draw becuz I did that bulls–t knee..but I landed the most punches in the fight..he didn’t even hit me w a punch when I took the knee. I get it though, I shouldn’t have done that but that hair grease was burning my eyes!” Davis wrote (profanity edited by LBS).

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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