Hard-hitting southpaw star Gervonta Davis doesn’t understand why some people continue to fantasize about a fight between him and Japanese dynamo Naoya Inoue.
From Davis’ point of view, what he feels is a yawning weight gap between them makes a fight very unrealistic and makes any speculation ridiculous.
Responding to a social media post from a podcast promoting that fantasy matchup, Baltimore’s Davis, a career lightweight who has fought up to the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds, dismissed suggestions that he is in any kind of collision course with Inoue. the multi-division and current undisputed 122-pound champion who began his career at a tender 108 pounds.
“I’m not going to fight him,” Davis posted on Instagram. “He is NOT even close to my weight…[I don’t know] Why does this page keep posting things like this?
A fight between Davis and Inoue has been talked about from time to time, and a lot of fans, pundits and industry insiders are considering the idea as it pits two of the sport’s most dynamic knockout artists against one another. Even outgoing Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza, a longtime Davis supporter, once expressed curiosity about that matchup.
Inoue, 30, himself has downplayed a hypothetical fight with Davis, saying it is nothing more than “hype” by fans.
Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is coming off a 10th-round beatdown of Marlon Tapales on Tuesday in Tokyo to unify all four belts in the 122-pound division. He achieved undisputed distinction in the 118-pound division last year.
Davis (29-0, 27 KOs), 29, last fought in April, stopping fellow American star Ryan Garcia in seven rounds at their high-profile pay-per-view event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mob, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.
