Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis is in the clear to fight this weekend.
However, he still has some work to resolve the legal case where even his alleged victim has reversed course and has gone out of her way to profess his innocence.
Davis entered a ‘Not Guilty’ plea in his still active court case in Broward County, Florida, stemming from his December 27 arrest on one count of Battery-Causing Bodily Harm. The unbeaten boxer was accused of striking the mother of his younger daughter, with a Parkland Police incident report noting that the alleged act caused an abrasion on the inside of the alleged victim’s right lip.
The arrest and even his subsequent release on December 28 after posting $1,000 bond raised concern over whether he would be permitted to proceed with his WBA ‘Regular’ lightweight title defense versus Hector Luis Garcia (16-0, 10KOs; 3NC). The equation changed on December 30, when the alleged victim—who publicly identifies herself as Davis’ girlfriend—posted a statement through her Instagram story, claiming that her 911 calls were made in haste and that the incident in question was merely an argument where both were at fault but never to the point of her life being in danger.
For now, the authorities see fit to keep the case open, with the prosecution ready to present its case in court. Davis is equally prepared to clear his name through the proper legal channels.
“Subject to receiving a copy of the charges herein, and further subject to filing defensive motions… the Defendant waives reading of the charging document and respectfully enters a plea of not guilty to those charges,” Susan Bozorgi, legal counsel for Davis stated to the County Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit in Broward County on Tuesday via sworn letter, a copy of which was obtained by BoxingScene.com. “The Defendant respectfully requests trial by jury herein.”
A court date was not yet assigned for a case where the prosecution cannot count on the cooperation of Davis’ prior accuser.
Ms. Bozorgi represented Davis in a separate criminal court case in South Florida, stemming from a February 2020 incident at a charity basketball game in Miami and which involved the mother of the boxer’s first child. The case was recently abandoned by the prosecution on December 13, nearly three years after the boxer’s initial arrest for which he was facing two misdemeanor simple battery charges.
Davis (27-0, 25KOs) is still due to stand trial on February 16 in his Baltimore hometown. That case is due to appear in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, where Davis faces fourteen separate misdemeanor charges for his alleged role in a November 2020 hit-and-run incident which left four people injured and with Davis allegedly fleeing the scene.
A plea arrangement extended by the prosecution in September called for a one-year suspended sentence, during which Davis—who has settled out of court with three of the four victims—would have to commit to 60 days of home confinement and work release.
Davis was prepared to accept the plea and resume his boxing career, though it was deemed too lenient by the court after sympathizing with the remaining victim, Jyair Smith, who was pregnant at the time of the crash and told judge Phinn that she “begged Mr. Gervonta Davis; I looked him in his eyes. I said I have to get home to my daughter, I’m pregnant. He never once came over to help me. He got his things and left [the scene of the crash].”
The worst-case scenario—Davis being found guilty on all 14 traffic infraction—would carry a maximum sentence of 50 months. It is doubtful that the boxer will face such an extreme sentence, though any amount of prison time could greatly impact previously reported plans for a springtime superfight versus Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19KOs) even with a win this weekend.
The alleged incident in Baltimore occurred less than a week after Davis headlined his first Showtime PPV, scoring a sensational sixth-round knockout of Leo Santa Cruz atop an October 30 show from Alamodome in San Antonio. This Saturday’s bout with Dominican Republic’s Garcia will mark Davis’ fifth straight Showtime PPV headliner, all of which have moved forward while he’s had at least one active criminal court case.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
