_1653599955.jpg)
Gervonta Davis doubled down in a recent interview and insisted that his fight Saturday night against Rolando Romero will his last with Floyd Mayweather Jr. as his promoter.
The Baltimore-bred Davis said that his desire is for him to take complete control of his budding career.
Although there may be cause for concern, Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe told BoxingScene.com in an interview that “everything is cool with Tank” ahead of the Showtime pay-per-view fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
“Tank is fine. He’s focused on the things that he has to be focused on. Some days are better than others. Some days you are frustrated. That’s just life,” said Ellerbe.
When Ellerbe was asked if Davis will be with Mayweather Promotions after the Romero fight, he said, “I don’t focus on those kinds of things. There is a lot of talk about this and a lot of talk about that. I don’t worry about that kind of stuff. I’m worried about the things that I can control, and I’m focused on this fight.
“My goal all along was to make him the biggest star of the sport, and we’ve done a terrific job doing that. We’re going to have another sellout. I’m just trying to make this event and every event we promote for him as big as possible, and we’ve done that. We continue to look forward to making him the biggest star in the entire sport.”
Whether Davis (26-0, 24 KOs) has a change of heart remains to be seen.
In order for him to maintain his leverage, the knockout artist must continue his winning ways against Romero (14-0, 12 KOs).
“This is a fight that Rolly has been begging for the last couple of years. Every time I would see him, he would beg me for a fight – and now is the right time. It’s been an excellent promotion for what will be an all-action fight. There is a tremendous amount of interest in the fight,” said Ellerbe.
“There is real bad blood between these two. They really don’t like each other. I don’t think these guys will ever like each other, regardless of the outcome. Rolly has an opportunity to prove he’s the real deal. Tank is one of the biggest attractions in the sport because he gives the fans exactly what they want to see. He has a tremendous skill set. This fight is about respect. Tank wants to teach him a lesson and shut up Rolly’s mouth. They are both looking for a knockout, and I guarantee you that it will end in a KO. It’s impossible that it won’t. The fans will witness a great fight between two terrific fighters.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.