The English promoter said that ‘Tank’ could have made over $10 million to face his rising contender this summer
Talk of Gervonta “Tank” Davis’ next opponent being Conor Benn has already fizzled. According to Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, Davis turned down a lucrative offer to make the fight happen.
After Benn’s win over Peter Dobson earlier this month, Davis and Benn traded words on social media. The two sides seemed to agree to enter into negotiations for a fight, but Hearn said Davis “didn’t really want to discuss” the offer that was made.
READ MORE ;‘He didn’t want to discuss’: Eddie Hearn says Gervonta Davis rejected offer for Conor Benn, talks Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou
“We made him an offer, which he felt he didn’t want to discuss further,” Hearn told iFL TV. “…It was over the $10 [million guaranteed] but it also had PPV bonuses beyond that, gate bonuses beyond that. So it could’ve been $20 million, could’ve been $25 million. But he didn’t really want to discuss it.
“I made him an offer that I felt was an offer that was quite powerful for the fight and could also lead to a lot more than that beyond the basic but, you know…I think he probably doesn’t really understand the dynamic of the deal, the numbers. I might go back.”
Benn is still waiting on the results of his recent hearing with the British Boxing Board of Control in regards to his failed drug tests ahead of his planned 2023 fight with Chris Eubanks Jr.
Hearn said that the team has pivoted to several other opponents for Benn for a fight that he hopes will take place in the U.K., assuming the results of the BBBofC hearing go their way. Among those opponents is former junior welterweight and welterweight champion Danny Garcia.
JUST IN ;Roy Jones Jr. Suggests Gervonta Davis Should Fight Haney, Stevenson Before They Outgrow Him
“Danny Garcia reached out to our team to talk to me directly, and I’ll be talking to him this week,” Hearn said. “I love the fight with Danny Garcia, the USA or the UK. Like I said, four or five names, and he’s definitely in the mix.”
Garcia’s most recent fight came in July 2022 when he defeated Jose Benavidez Jr. That is Garcia’s only fight since the end of 2020.
Davis has not fought since knocking out Ryan Garcia in April 2023. In May, Davis was sentenced to 90 days house arrest and three years probation for a 2021 hit-and-run incident. He violated the terms of his house arrest and served the remainder of his 90 days in jail before being released on July 14.
While Davis has become one of the primary faces of boxing, he has not faced a deep roster of opponents and should be looking to parlay his fame into big fights. With Benn off the table, options are seemingly running thin for top-tier opponents who would be available for a summer date with Davis.
UPDATE ;Gervonta Davis Is the “Ultimate Grudge Match” for Devin Haney, Bill Haney Speaks Up
- It appears Jaron “Boots” Ennis is set to defend his IBF welterweight championship against mandatory challenger Cody Crowley with the target date for the fight to take place on the undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s next PBC pay-per-view. Ennis has long been calling for a fight with Terence Crawford and also was interested in a fight with Mario Barrios, but the IBF order leaves him with no choice for his next outing if he wants to remain champion. There are, of course, some sticking points remaining for the plan, including Alvarez needing an opponent and a date to get the card together and that happening amid rumors that Alvarez and PBC could be on the outs.
- Things between Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall are heating up before their rematch on April 27. In addition to trading words, the two nearly brawled at a recent media event.
- WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman is no stranger to strange ideas, but he took things to a new level when discussing the upcoming fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion, suggesting the fight be scored by five or six judges, rather than the standard three. “That is my recommendation. We will see,” Sulaiman told Sky Sports. “Boxing is a sport in which change is very difficult to get. We’re purists, traditionalists, we don’t want changes. I will continue to make the proposal. Some like the idea, some of the people in the decision-making process. We will see.”
