Gervonta Davis, the hard-hitting southpaw star, has recently made headlines by firmly dismissing the idea of a fight with Japanese boxing sensation Naoya Inoue. Davis, a dominant figure in the lightweight division and known for fighting at the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds, finds the notion of a matchup with Inoue, the current undisputed 122-pound champion, to be far from realistic due to the significant weight difference between them.
This response came after a social media post by a podcast hyped the fantasy matchup, stirring discussions among fans and pundits. Davis, hailing from Baltimore, took to Instagram to clarify his position: “I’m not fighting him,” he stated. “He’s NO WHERE near my weight..[I don’t know] why this page keep posting sh!t like this.”
The talk of a Davis vs. Inoue fight has been sporadic but persistent, capturing the imagination of a wide audience in the boxing community. Such a bout would feature two of the sport’s most dynamic knockout artists. Even Stephen Espinoza, the outgoing Showtime Sports president and a longtime supporter of Davis, had previously shown interest in this hypothetical fight.
Despite the enthusiasm from fans and some industry insiders, Naoya Inoue, aged 30, has also downplayed the possibility of this fight, attributing the talk to mere fan hype. Inoue, recently demonstrated his prowess by unifying all four belts in the 122-pound division with a 10th-round victory over Marlon Tapales in Tokyo. Previously, he had achieved the undisputed status in the 118-pound division last year.
Meanwhile, the 29-year-old Davis, last showcased his skill in April, securing a victory over fellow American star Ryan Garcia in seven rounds at a high-profile pay-per-view event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Davis’s recent statement makes it clear that a fight with Inoue, while tantalizing to boxing enthusiasts, remains an unlikely event due to the practicality of weight divisions in the sport.
Image Credit: Sky Sports