By: Hans Themistode
Generally, Gervonta Davis isn’t the most loquacious person when he walks into a room. Even as his fight dates draw near, the Baltimore native is calm, cool, and collected while his opponents are animated and truculent.
However, despite his normally serene demeanor, Davis and Rolando “Rolly” Romero nearly came to blows, as the two came face to face in Brooklyn, New York, during a recent press conference.
A shirtless Romero stepped right into the mug of Davis, provoking the heavy-handed multiple division titlist even further. Davis puffed his chest out, pointed his finger directly in the face of Romero, and continued to scream in his face, saying words such as “I’m a show you”, “you trash” and “you a b*tch” – amongst other things.
For Davis, his emotional reaction, in his mind, was both warranted and to prove a point. Following years of consistent trash talk over social media, Davis wanted to test Romero. While the former interim titlist at 135 pounds jawed back, Davis was bombastic as he continued to use disparaging word after disparaging word.
Having gotten the opportunity to look Romero eye-to-eye, Davis believes his upcoming opponent showed weakness.
“It’s different when people are talking on Instagram or anything, they talk,” said Davis to BoxingInsider.com. “I seen him in interviews talk. When it’s face to face, it’s different, it’s way different. He’s soft.”
Originally, Davis was hoping to put an end to his rivalry with Romero on December 5th, 2021. Although both men signed on the dotted line, Romero was forced to withdraw from their contest and place his focus on allegations of sexual assault. Stepping up in Romero’s place, was rough and rugged contender, Isaac Cruz. Though Davis would pick up the win, Cruz pushed him like no other.
As Davis continued to trade hooks with Cruz in the center of the ring, Romero scored the fight-ending blow in the courtroom. The 26-year-old cleared his name of any wrongdoing several months after charges were levied upon him.
Now, with a clean slate, Romero will attempt to stretch his undefeated record to 15-0 come May 28th. Following a lackluster showing against Jackson Marinez in August of 2020, Romero reeled off two consecutive knockout victories.
Though Davis figures to be his most difficult opponent, Romero has shown hubris when asked how he expects his showdown against Davis to play out.
“I’m gonna knock him out in the first round,” said Romero to BoxingInsider.com. “He’s going to run right into something.”