Gervonta Davis arrived late and overweight Friday for what’s been billed as his lightweight debut.
Then the undefeated Davis shoved Yuriorkis Gamboa with two hands and ignited a brawl on the stage at Compound, a nightclub near State Farm Arena, the venue where Davis and Gamboa are scheduled to fight Saturday night.
Ordered was restored after several minutes by Atlanta police and security personnel. Neither fighter appeared injured.
.@Gervontaa vs. @gamboa ??#DavisGamboa pic.twitter.com/1umCb7ffE9
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 27, 2019
Davis officially weighed in at 136¼ pounds for their 135-pound title fight. The Georgia Athletic & Entertainment Commission gave Davis one hour to return to the scale at the lightweight limit.
If Davis doesn’t come back to the scale at 135 pounds or lower, the vacant WBA world lightweight title only will be at stake for Gamboa. The Cuban-born Gamboa met his contractual obligation by weighing in at 134½ pounds.
Baltimore’s Davis (22-0, 21 KOs), who has relocated to Atlanta, gave up his WBA “super” 130-pound crown to move up to lightweight for this fight. Miami’s Gamboa (30-2, 18 KOs), an Olympic gold medalist in 2004, has won world titles at 126, 130 and 135 pounds.
Odds-makers have installed Davis as a 20-1 favorite entering a fight Showtime will televise as the main event of a three-bout broadcast scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
The four other fighters set to box in bouts Showtime will air made weight earlier Friday afternoon.
Jean Pascal came in at 174½ pounds for his light heavyweight title defense versus Badou Jack, who also weighed 174½ pounds.
The 37-year-old Pascal (34-6-1, 20 KOs, 1 NC), of Laval, Quebec, will make the first defense of the WBA world 175-pound championship he won by technical decision from Marcus Browne in his last fight, August 3 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The 36-year-old Jack (22-2-3, 13 KOs), a native Swede who resides in Las Vegas, will fight for the first time since Browne beat him by unanimous decision in a 12-rounder January 19 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Before Pascal and Jack came to the scale, Jose Uzcategui and Lionell Thompson made weight for their 10-round super middleweight match, the opener of Showtime’s tripleheader.
The 29-year-old Uzcategui (29-3, 24 KOs), a former IBF super middleweight champ from Tijuana, Mexico, weighed in at 167½ pounds. The 34-year-old Thompson (21-5, 12 KOs), of Buffalo, New York, officially weighed exactly 168 pounds.
Thompson came down from the light heavyweight division to face Uzcategui.
–boxingscene.com
