LAS VEGAS — More powerful people are pushing for Gervonta Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko to finally fight, now that ‘Tank’ is free to box again after dropping Frank Martin with a violent left hand Saturday in Las Vegas.
The bout could be a passing-of-the-torch between a 36-year-old former Olympic gold medalist and pound-for-pound staple in Lomachenko against a 29-year-old knockout puncher who thrills at the box office in Davis.
Tank’s promoter Leonard Ellerbe, the former CEO of Mayweather Promotions, told World Boxing News recently that “it’s inevitable” that Tank fights elite lightweights like Lomachenko because they’re all in the same weight class.
Premier Boxing Champions consultant Stephen Espinoza, the former president at Showtime Sports, also told us, behind-the-scenes, it is Tank who is pushing for the biggest fights possible at 135 pounds.
To World Boxing News and other reporters last week, the fighter even said he’s “for sure” interested in boxing Lomachenko. And, judging from the way Top Rank officials are talking Wednesday, they are just as eager to make the fight happen, too.
Bradley Jacobs, the Top Rank COO, told World Boxing News that Davis vs Lomachenko “is a terrific fight.”
He told us that Tank’s thumping eighth-round win over Martin at the MGM Grand Garden Arena “was expected of him” as, though Martin “is a very good fighter … the general consensus was that he would wear him down.
“That is exactly what he did,” he said, “and he knocked him out.”
On whether Davis could do the same against Lomachenko, Jacobs said with a smile: “I know he’s a sensational fighter, but Lomachenko is a one-in-a-lifetime type of guy.”
Top Rank founder Bob Arum, meanwhile, told Las Vegas reporter Sean Zittel that officials from his company are meeting Tank’s representatives later this week. “Hopefully we can hammer out a deal,” Arum said.
The fight is a long time coming, and would represent the greatest opponent Davis has fought in his 30-bout career.
To date, Tank has returned 28 knockouts from his 30 wins, including brutal victories over Leo Santa Cruz, Rolando Romero, and Ryan Garcia.
Lomachenko, meanwhile, has a graceful and athletic style which saw him defeat Gary Russell Jr. for the WBO featherweight title in only his third pro fight.
Since then, he’s added wins over Guillermo Rigondeaux, Jorge Linares, and Jose Pedraza.
Though he dropped a unanimous decision to Devin Haney in 2023, Lomachenko rebounded this year with an 11th round knockout win over George Kambosos, and could cap an extraordinary 2024 should he beat Davis, too.
“We can do that fight before the end of the year,” said Arum, adding later that he’s confident it can be done because, “when the two fighters want it, the chances of that happening are much greater than when one fighter is reluctant and one wants it.
“Here, both fighters want it. If both want it, the suits that meet have an obligation to make it happen.”
Per Arum, all that’s left to do is for those suits to “agree on terms.”
To World Boxing News, Jacobs added: “It’s a fight that’s out there to be made and, like anything, people have got to get together and become reasonable to try to get it done.”
It would not be out of the ordinary for Top Rank and PBC to work together on a big event.
They famously combined for the 2020 rematch between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, with the bout airing on both ESPN pay-per-view, and Fox Sports.
More recently, PBC boxer Stephen Fulton traveled to Tokyo to fight Naoya Inoue in a super bantamweight world title unification match which the Japanese boxer won by knockout.
“The blueprint [to work together] is out there already,” Jacobs finished. “We’ve done it before — it’s difficult, but it’s not brain surgery.”
Alan Dawson is World Boxing News Lead Writer, a 2 x Sports Journalist of the Year finalist, and 5 x BWAA awards winner. Follow Alan @AlanDawsonSport.
