Before documenting the following, if for no other reason than for the sake of balance, it seems only fair to acknowledge how tedious the undercard to the superb fight between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia often was.
Perhaps so much so it tested the patience of many of those present – to the extent some had started to boo even before the first round of Gabriel Rosado’s fight with Bektemir Melikuziev had concluded (had they even had time to determine whether or not they were watching a fight boring enough to boo?).
No one on the press rows could be heard booing, but at one point what could be heard was one exasperated reporter saying to a female colleague: “Watch where you’re going! You have to be careful! You’re the second person who’s done that!” That colleague had just tripped over his unnecessarily long and untidy laptop cable, at the edge of a step that was tall even by the standards of a venue like the T-Mobile Arena, and nearly fallen to where she would at the very least have hurt – if not injured – herself.
He then proceeded to watch her, in an act of politeness he didn’t deserve, tidy up the cable that was in the walkway and tuck it away to minimise the risk of someone else injuring themselves as she so nearly had. When she finished doing so the owner of the laptop also didn’t thank her, or ask whether she was okay. It seems likely that if he was more mobile he’d have tidied it away when he first plugged it in, or have a greater appreciation for the value of remaining injury-free.
The same reporter was among the handful given the opportunity to ask, at the post-fight press conference, a question to “Tank” Davis. He didn’t, however, ask Davis anything along the lines of how he had managed to perform so impressively given he is to be sentenced on May 5 and is expected to spend the coming months in prison – nor how he felt about the prospect of doing so given the biggest fight of his career was out of the way.
If it wasn’t his responsibility to do so, it was frustrating that broadcasters Showtime and promoters Premier Boxing Champions kept the questions to who they are hailing the “new face of boxing” to a minimum. Davis has become essential viewing; his answers to both questions would likely have enhanced his appeal.
