Gervonta Davis arrested: Latest news on boxing star following domestic violence charge

Daniel Yanofsky

Gervonta Davis arrested: Latest news on boxing star following domestic violence charge image

Note: The following story deals with domestic violence, and may be distressing for some readers.


Less than two weeks before he fights Hector Luis Garcia, boxing star Gervonta Davis was arrested for an alleged domestic violence incident. 

Davis, the WBA (Regular) lightweight champion, was booked into Broward County jail in Florida on a charge of Battery Causing Bodily Harm. Davis is currently training in Florida for a fight against Garcia scheduled for Jan. 7. 

A court hearing was set for early Wednesday morning. Per Boxing Scene's Jake Donovan, Davis was charged with one count of Battery-Causing Bodily Harm. Bond has been set at $1,000 for what is considered a first-degree misdemeanor in Florida. 

Details from the arrest were revealed via ESPN's Mike Coppinger. Davis, who was not under the influence during the ordeal, allegedly struck a woman on the right side of her head, leaving her with "a small abrasion to the inside of her upper lip on the right side of her mouth." He allegedly used what was described by police as a "closed hand type slap."  

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TMZ later released exclusive audio of the phone call between the woman accusing Davis and 911, saying she was in danger. 

"Please help me, I need help, please!" she said. "I'm trying to go home. I have my baby in the car and he attacked me in front of the kid. And now he's messing up my tires... He's going to kill me!"

Davis was later released from custody. He took to social media to defend himself in a recently-deleted post. 

"DO NOT LET THESE PEOPLE MISGUIDE YOU ALL ON THIS B------…THIS WAS JUST YESTERDAY MOMENTS BEFORE ME AND MY CHILD MOTHER HAD ARGUMENT! WATCHING FROZEN WITH MY OLDEST DAUGHTER ..I NEVER PUT MY HANDS ON MY CHILD MOTHER NOR MY F------ DAUGHTER ARE YOU F------ CRAZY!! IM NOT A MONSTER I BEEN QUIET FOR TOO LONG. I DONT HAVE MEDIA TEAM, PR, GOOD LAWYER…spokesman nothing off that..THATS THE ONLY REASON IM DOING THIS NOW! JUST TO CLEAR MY NAME! I BEEN DOING THIS S--- ON MY OWN SINCE I STARTED THIS S---! THESE PEOPLE DONE PUT OUT SO MUCH STUFF AIRED THIS EVERYWHERE AND HAVE A F------ HELICOPTER FLYING OVER MY HOUSE NOW AS I WRITE THIS BECUZ THEY LOOK AT THIS S--- AS MONEY TO THEM AND TRYING TO GET AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE…THEY RUSH TO MY CHILD MOTHER OFFERING HER 50k JUST TO PRESS CHARGES..LIKE THEY DID WITH MY FIRST CHILD MOTHER, SO BAD THEY COULDNT GET HER SO THEY GOT A LADY THEY CALMED SHE WAS INTO THE MESS ALSO A LADY THAT KNOWN FOR SUITING PEOPLE FOR MONEY REASON..THEY GOT HER! WHICH I HAVE TO PAY 300k TO AND I DIDNT LAY A FINGER ON HER OR EVEN KNOW WHAT THIS LADY LOOKS LIKE! THEY DOING THIS FOR MONEY TO AND ALSO TO DESTROY ME!! I AM NOT A MONSTER, I HAVE TWO BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS THAT HAVE TO GROW UP SOMEDAY AND SEE THIS B-------!! THEY POST THIS B------- WORLD WIDE BEFORE ANYTHING! THEY EVEN POST A SNIPPET OF THE POLICE CALL WHICH MY CHILD MOTHER WAS CRYING ON THE PHONE BECUZ I WOULDNT GIVE HER MY TRUCK! SHADEROOM, gossipinthecity itonsite and the rest of the internet blogs! y’all all bad for the culture!! YALL DONT CARE IF IT TRUE OE FALSE..HE DID OR DIDNT..YALL JUST WANT TO PUT IT OUT THERE BECUZ ITS BENEFICIAL TO YALL BUSINESSES!"

December 30: Right before New Year's Eve, Davis' accuser took to social media to retract all that has been said, including the phone call she made which she called unnecessary. In a social media post, she said that she was frantic at the time of the argument that they were both at fault for. 

“I pride myself on being extremely private; this situation was the last thing I wanted to be made public," the woman stated. "The state of our relationship has been in a fragile space, and Gervonta and I were both at fault for the argument.

“While emotions were high I made an unnecessary call to law enforcement in an intense moment while I was frantic. Gervonta did not harm me or our daughter. Today we have sought the help necessary to move forward with our lives. I am confident that we will succeed within our co-parenting dynamic with the counseling provided to us.”

The 28-year-old's fight takes place inside the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. It would be the first step towards a Ryan Garcia clash, if it takes place. As of now, his fight with Hector Luis Garcia is on, as Showtime told ESPN that they are looking into the situation. Davis has since posted training videos on social media, indicating that everything is going on as planned. 

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The Sporting News will be providing more information when it is released. 

Gervonta Davis legal history

Davis was previously arrested and charged in a Miami-Dade County court with misdemeanor counts of simple battery domestic violence. That was during Super Bowl week in 2020, where a video showed him aggressively grabbing his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child at a charity basketball game. The prosecution would later abandon the charges. 

"Tank" is scheduled to appear in Baltimore Circuit Court in February 2023 for his alleged involvement in an unrelated hit-and-run incident in November 2020. He is facing 14 charges after being accused of fleeing the scene of an accident involved multiple people, including a pregnant woman.

Davis could face up to seven years in prison over the incident if charged. 

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Gervonta Davis record, bio

A 2012 Golden Gloves champion, Davis made his pro debut in 2013. He won the IBF super-featherweight title in 2017. In 2018, Davis won the WBA (Super) super-featherweight title and became WBA (Regular) lightweight champion against Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2019.

Against Leo Santa Cruz in October 2020, Davis won via knockout to win the WBA (Super) super-featherweight title. Moving divisions again, Davis beat Mario Barrios to win the WBA (Regular) super-lightweight title. In December, he beat Isaac Cruz to retain the WBA (Regular) lightweight title.

Davis last fought in May, beating Rolando Romero via TKO, his 25th win via knockout. An initial fight between the two was slated for December 2021, but Romero was taken out of the fight due to sexual assault allegations. Davis faced Cruz instead. The charges against Romero were later not filed, as claims could not be substantiated. 

Daniel Yanofsky