Gervonta Davis shocked boxing fans when he announced that he will be hanging up the gloves at the end of 2025.
The knockout artist from Baltimore is 30-0 in his campaign with 28 stoppages. He has the potential, with a little more activity, to be one of it not the biggest star in the sport. That now looks unlikely given his out-of-the-blue retirement call.
Speaking to Moment Of Spotlight, an introspective ‘Tank’ Davis said his decision was somewhat based on the outside influences of the sport.
“I’m going through a lot, been through a lot, been betrayed and s**t like that. It really made me want to give up on the limelight. Everybody chase being in front of the camera. They chase an image. I don’t want to be a part of that. As long as I have my money, can take care of my kids and whoever I need to take care of, I don’t need none of this … You’re always being judged. You always got to live for someone else. You gotta be perfect, and nobody’s perfect.”
Davis then admitted that the animosity he feels towards opponents – perhaps a necessity to produce the sort of stunning knockouts he does – is something he would like to move away from.
“I’m the type of person if you go against me as a boxer, I don’t like you as a person. S**t like that I need to step away from, cause I don’t want to be like that. I feel as though I’m in it and if somebody is betting against me I feel like they want to stop my whole motion that I have going on. I don’t want to be like that. That’s why I’d rather step back on it and be on the cool side.”
Finally, 30-year-old Davis said that once of probation people may ‘never see him again.’
“At the end of 2025 I feel as though I should be more mature mentally, further than I am now. And I should be off of probation so I can travel the whole world. Once I can travel the whole world, people probably won’t ever see me again. I probably won’t be in America again.”
‘Tank’s final year in the sport begins with a title defence against Lamont Roach Jr on March 1 in Brooklyn, New York.
