Roundup: Tank vs Roach rematch, Tszyu returns with win, more
Gervonta Davis is making plans for a quick rematch with Lamont Roach, Tim Tszyu got back with a win, and more!
Tank vs Roach rematch planned for June
Gervonta “Tank” Davis doesn’t look like he’s going to take much of a break between fights, as he is reportedly targeting a June 21 rematch with Lamont Roach following their surprising draw on March 1.
Davis had previously said he did want to turn around quickly for the second scrap with Roach, and it looks like that will happen. Tank had come into that fight with plenty of talk about possibly retiring after the bout, or at least a lengthy layoff, but the iffy performance does seem to have motivated him to get back quickly and try to set things right, as it were.
It’s also expected that Erislandy Lara will defend his WBA middleweight title on the undercard, and Jermell Charlo is expected to return, too, having not fought since September 2023. Charlo has said he plans to return to 154, which could be risky given his age, layoff, and the fact he fought at 168 last time out.
Tim Tszyu back in the win column, more results
It was a busy weekend for the sport, with Tim Tszyu returning in Australia with a fourth round TKO win over Joey Spencer closing the bigger action. Tszyu went 0-2 in 2024 with losses to Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev, but he took care of business against the lower level Spencer, who has now been dominated in both of his steps up.
There was plenty of talk from Tszyu about having a difficult weight cut to make 154 for this fight, but some reasonably wonder if Tszyu may just be too small to really compete at 160, even with that being a fairly weak division these days.
There is also a bit more enthusiasm for a potential fight between Tszyu and Keith Thurman, which has seemed to be on the cards:
Elsewhere around the globe, we saw Janibek Alimkhanuly make a successful defense of his IBF and WBO middleweight titles by stopping Anauel Ngamissengue in Kazakhstan, which was no surprise, and in England, Filip Hrgovic handed Joe Joyce his fourth loss in five fights.
Some believe it’s really time for Joyce, 39, to hang up the gloves.
More news
- Richard Torrez Jr grabbed a step-up win over Guido Vianello, who was at least an opponent with a pulse.
- Daniel Dubois is planning a summer return, and is hinting that it’ll be a big fight. You have to remember that Dubois and Frank Warren and DAZN will say that anything he does is a “big fight,” of course. Anyone else’s mileage may vary, but Dubois is in the TurkiVerse, too, like most of the heavyweights, so it really is reasonable to expect it’ll be someone worthwhile.
- Fabio Wardley will face Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller for an interim WBA heavyweight title on June 7. Remember when the WBA said they’d cut down on the amount of belts they have, and they honestly have done a pretty good job about it overall, yet at heavyweight there’s still Usyk (“super world” champion, the champion of the super world), Kubrat Pulev (“world”), and now you’ll have either Wardley or Miller as interim?
- Abel Sanchez thinks Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford is a “ridiculous fight.” He’s hardly alone, of course, but it’s going to happen all the same.
- PBC have another absolute blockbuster coming to Prime Video, as Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo will face Armando Resendiz and Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna in a pair of junk matchups on May 31, before potentially fighting each other later this year if both win, hoping to capitalize on that beef-heat the two had in 2023.
- The WBC have ordered mandatory title defenses for featherweight Stephen Fulton and middleweight Carlos Adames. Fulton is to face Rey Vargas, who was moved to their goofy “champion in recess” standing last year and hasn’t fought since his draw with Nick Ball a little over a year ago. If Vargas is in shape and all that, it’s a good fight. Adames has been ordered to face Meiirim Nursultanov, who hasn’t fought since November 2023. That could also be a good fight if everyone’s in order and all that.
- Caroline Dubois says she’s not chasing Katie Taylor, and that she understands Taylor frankly does not need the fight with her. Speaking of Taylor, new MVP signing Alycia Baumgardner will return on the Taylor vs Serrano 3 undercard in July, defending her super featherweight championship against Jennifer Miranda.