Gervonta Davis found a way to make the most of a scary situation.
The unbeaten knockout artist was aboard a private flight that was forced to make an emergency landing immediately after takeoff Saturday afternoon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Davis and a small group of fewer than ten people were en route to Las Vegas to attend the Fox Sports Pay-Per-View headlined by Manny Pacquiao’s showdown with WBA welterweight titlist Yordenis Ugas, only for the flight to barely get off the ground before crashing just to the side of the runway.
“The plane crashed. The plane didn’t even take off. It took off… but it didn’t take off,” Davis noted while documenting the horrific moment during an Instagram Live session. “I’m good but it just my ass hot. I’m sitting on this hot-ass concrete.”
Davis and his small group appeared to be in good spirits, remaining positive after the brief scare.
“For everyone wanting to fly private, I think that’s over for that,” noted Davis. “I’ll be… I’m driving or catch a train.”
According to a public relations representative for the City of Fort Lauderdale, the plane suffered landing gear damage which affected the ability to steer. City fire trucks were dispatched to the site to assist with the scene, though there were no reported injuries, major or otherwise.
As noted by a member of Davis’ group, the pilot ‘had no control of the plane. That shit is God, yo.”
The pilot immediately landed the plane, which lost its front wheel after enduring a minor crash.
“It’s not the pilot. The pilot that was flying… he probably felt the hydraulics while they were [taxiing for takeoff], then got in the air and he hurried it up to put it down,” theorized Davis. “And that’s when [it went down]. But he did good, though. We could’ve been over there.
“Everything good, though. We good.”
Davis (25-0, 24KOs) is less than two months removed from his eleventh-round knockout win over Mario Barrios this past June in Atlanta, Georgia. With the win, Davis netted a secondary title at junior welterweight, adding to his collection of belts won at junior lightweight and lightweight.
Plans for Davis’ next fight have not yet been revealed, other than tentative plans to headline a Pay-Per-View in the fourth quarter of 2021. It remains unclear at which weight he plans to next campaign, though a decision is expected to be reached before month’s end.
–boxingscene.com
