After the fight: Give Gervonta Davis and Rolly Romero a fair shake

Several critics went after Gervonta Davis after his round 6 KO of Rolly Romero, but we learned that Romero is better than anticipated, and Davis is elite. 

As sure as the sun will rise, critics are ready to pounce on a boxer regardless of their performance in the ring. People took cheap shots as Gervonta Davis stopped Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero on Saturday, May 28.

Davis once again defeated his opponent using a rare mixture of intelligence, athleticism and power. On the other end, Romero looked improved and had moments where his skill set, size and strength gave Davis problems.

No, Davis vs. Romero wasn’t the best matchup to be made for Davis, and the $74.99 price tag asked a lot for the contest, but Davis and Romero did their part in selling the match based on pre-fight animosity and drama.

People want to see Davis against the division’s best like Devin Haney, George Kambosos Jr. and Ryan Garcia. That’s where a lot of the post-fight critiques came from, but it’s unrealistic to think you’re going to get a gold-standard fight every time.

Davis’s record deserves more credit than it receives. He has notched wins against Jose Pedraza, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Leo Santa Cruz, Mario Barrios, and Isaac Cruz. That’s a pretty impressive record for a 27-year-old who’s still approaching his prime.

Yet, people want to diminish his victories against Gamboa and Santa Cruz because they were undersized. Davis is only 5-foot-5 and is a small lightweight himself, making that an unfair assessment.

He had trouble against Cruz, but he also suffered an injured hand in round 10. Cruz’s ability to take a punch and apply pressure was a near-perfect strategy against Davis, and he still couldn’t get the victory.

Gervonta Davis vs. Rolly Romero was competitive for six rounds and helped each fighter improve their standing despite the naysayers

Davis closed the fight against Cruz one-handed and beat Romero with one perfectly timed punch. However, if you search Twitter for #DavisRomero, you’ll see plenty of fans getting on Davis’s case for not throwing more punches during the first three rounds.

That was all part of Davis’s strategy. He paced himself for a 12-round fight if needed. He’s a tactical fighter and proved it by catching Romero with a counter left that came at the precise moment when required. We call that setting a trap.

To Romero’s credit, he won the first three rounds against Davis. He probably had the tools to go the distance, but impatience got the better of him as he kept leaping at Davis with his hands down, which cost him the fight.

Knowing when to be aggressive and when to lay off is a skill that Davis possesses and Romero doesn’t.

No boxer is perfect. Fans want to believe that there’s one fighter that’s head and shoulders above all others, but that fighter doesn’t exist at the elite level and never will. There are enough talented boxers at the high end that every matchup at the top will be competitive.

That should be a good thing, but apparently, it’s not enough for some. The truth is that some people will never be satisfied with what they see in the ring. We call them malcontents, and there are plenty of them out there.

You can also call them trolls, but I prefer to look at them as unrealistic. Let them spit out their venom on social media and don’t react. In all honesty, that’s what they are looking for–a reaction.

Davis and Romero put on a good show, and both upped their stock. Davis notched another knockout, and Romero proved that he’s worthy of a second look. After leaving the ring against a boxer of Davis’s caliber, not many can say the same.

All boxers need two things to improve and rise up the ranks–activity and competition. No boxer fought in a Fight of the Year every time out because factors surrounding the boxing business prevent that from happening.

Muhammad Ali didn’t fight Joe Frazier and George Foreman in every bout. He had plenty of stay-busy fights against the likes of Zora Folley, Jerry Quarry, and Ron Lyle, so why rag on Davis for fighting Romero?

If you viewed Davis vs. Romero as an inferior matchup, the solution is not to watch instead of wasting 280 characters on Twitter to trash two boxers trying to make a living by sacrificing their health.

Unfortunately, many enjoy putting out malice instead of giving credit where it’s due. That won’t change, but at least we have a mute button for them.