The Crash And Burn Of Gervonta Davis

By: Sean Crose

And so Gervonta “Tanks” Davis is once again in the hands of law enforcement. Per TMZ: “Davis is in police custody two weeks after officials put out a warrant for his arrest over domestic violence allegations.” Indeed, Davis stands accused of brutally mistreating a woman. It’s not like this sort of this hasn’t happened with the former world lightweight champion before. Sure enough Davis has had numerous run ins with the law over the years, and his reputation for mistreating women is certainly not going to change now.

What makes this particular saga different from the others is that Davis spent weeks as a fugitive rather than turn himself in. It’s been quite a fall for the man once seen as possibly being the next Floyd Mayweather, Davis was apparently busted in his home sometime on Wednesday. Information has yet come to light as to when Davis will appear before a judge. No doubt the proceedings will be well reported. Davis is far from the first professional boxer to have legal troubles – indeed, in the bare knuckled days boxers would be arrested just for fighting.

What makes Davis interesting, though, is the fact that he may well have thrown away a brilliant life simply because he couldn’t adhere to society’s rules on upright behavior. To hear Davis speak is to hear a soft spoken, rather polite and gracious individual. Clearly however, there’s a another side to the man, a side which seems to call the shots. How else to explain Davis’ willingness to throw away millions of dollars, a wildly successful career, and the possibility of actually having a healthy relationship with a partner? It’s all a mystery, frankly, one Davis himself would do well to ponder at this point.

The reality is that there were signs of a worsening problem over the past several months: A close (some would argue gift) decision against Lamont Roach raised some eyebrows last spring. Those eyebrows were raised even higher this past fall when Davis had to step away from a no doubt insanely lucrative novelty bout against Jake Paul due to legal issues. Again, the history of boxing showcases a rogues gallery of less than savory characters. Davis is just over 30 years of age, however. Provided he doesn’t spend decades in prison, the man has a chance to make things right, at least outside of the ring. If, however, Davis is guilty of the latest accusations against him, and proves unwilling to change – then there’s only one person to blame for how things turned out for him.