After months of uncertainty, Gervonta Davis seems to be getting closer to returning to the ring.

Davis hasn’t fought since a controversial majority draw against Lamont Roach Jr. in March 2025, which many felt should have been the case against him after Roach was denied the knockout award.

A planned exhibition featuring Jake Paul was later scrapped because Davis became embroiled in legal troubles, including charges of battery, false imprisonment and attempted kidnapping, while arrest warrant and civil proceedings further complicated his return to the ring.

After being named “halt champion” earlier this year, the WBA officially ordered “Tank” to defend his lightweight world title against mandatory challenger Floyd Schofield on May 23, giving both camps until June 22 to reach an agreement before bidding was announced.

While some believed that Davis would vacate the belt because he either wasn’t ready to return or was looking for a bigger name, negotiations are reportedly ongoing. We provide the latest updates, said Schofield’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya Fighting Hub TV that he expects significant progress this week.

“Tom Brown [of TGB] and Eric Gomez from Golden Boy are in talks and we are waiting for a proposal, which should happen in the next few days.

“It’s a fight that Floyd has always wanted. I believe that Tank Davis will be very motivated to organize this fight. It’s a great fight. People saw Floyd fight, he did very well and surprised a lot of people. It’s a natural fit for him. The fact that the WBA ordered this fight and we can organize it very quickly is music to my ears. It’s one of those fights that the fans will really fall in love with.”

Schofield has become one of the top youthful lightweights in the sport. The undefeated 23-year-old, known as “Kid Austin,” has a record of 19-0 with 13 knockouts and most recently stopped former world champion Tevin Farmer in a round.

He was expected to challenge Shakur Stevenson for the world title last year before illness forced him to withdraw during fight week, but he has since climbed to No. 1 in the WBA rankings and now finds himself on the verge of the biggest opportunity of his career.

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez will attempt to win a world title in his third weight class on Saturday, June 13, when he defeats WBA bantamweight champion Antonio Vargas at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The 12-round main event caps off the card promoted by Matchroom Boxing in association with Boxlab Promotions, with the main card streaming on DAZN beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Rodriguez arrives at 118 with a pristine slate

Rodriguez, with a record of 23-0 and 16 knockouts, enters the fight just days after formally leaving the junior bantamweight division. The 26-year-old San Antonio fighter relinquished his WBA, WBC and WBO 115-pound titles this week, and trainer Robert Garcia confirmed that letters have been sent to all three sanctioning bodies. Both the WBC and WBO issued statements declaring their world titles vacant.

His streak at 115 pounds included a seventh-round knockout of Juan Francisco Estrada in June 2024, a tenth-round stoppage of Phumelele Cafu in July 2025 and a tenth-round knockout of Fernando Martinez in November 2025 in Riyad; this victory united three of the four main belts. Rodriguez also holds the WBO flyweight title, which he won in 2023 against Cristian Gonzalez and unified with Sunlit Edwards.

“Recent weight class, same goals,” Rodriguez said after the fight was announced. “Dominate and win all the belts.”

Rodriguez has a storied history in the Phoenix area, where he stopped Edwards at the Desert Diamond Arena in December 2023 and knocked out Estrada at the nearby Footprint Center. The card landed in Glendale after San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center, a favorite Matchroom venue, was held pending a potential San Antonio Spurs playoff date.

Vargas defends as a weighty underdog

Vargas (19-1-1, 11 knockouts) is a 29-year-old former United States Olympian from Kissimmee, Florida, who represented his country at the 2016 Rio Games. He won the WBA interim title against Winston Guerrero in December 2024, was promoted to full champion and fought Daigo Higa to a draw in Japan in July 2025. After repeatedly postponing his fight against former champion Seiya Tsutsumi, Vargas was once again recognized as the full champion of the division.

“It’s the type of fight every fighter dreams of,” Vargas said during fight week. The champion enters as a significant underdog; According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Rodriguez is down 2,500 and Vargas is up 950.

A victory for Rodriguez would make him a three-division world champion. The WBO in its statement this week addressed a potential future meeting between Rodriguez and his bantamweight champion Cristian “Chispa” Medina, while multiple reports indicate Naoya Inoue is a long-term target at 122 pounds.

Undercard TV broadcast

Elif Nur Turhan vs. Gabriela Tellez, IBF women’s lightweight title, 10 rounds. Turhan (13-0, 8 knockouts), of Istanbul’s Turkiye, is defending for the second time the belt she won with a fifth-round stoppage of Beatriz Ferreira in December. The 31-year-old defended her title by split decision in a match against Taylah Gentzen on January 31. Tellez, with a record of 7-0 and 3 knockouts, is a 19-year-old from San Antonio who received her first chance to win a world title. Coached by Jose Benavidez Sr., she stopped Crystal Garcia Nova in her last appearance in February.

Arturo Cardenas vs. Jordan Martinez 2, junior bantamweight…junior featherweight, 10 rounds. Cardenas (17-0-2, 9 knockouts) of Sahuayo, Mexico, and Martinez of Phoenix (16-0-1, 15 knockouts) will face each other in a direct rematch after a draw on February 28 at the same arena. Martinez has a higher knockout percentage while Cardenas relied on his technical approach, and the first fight produced clearly split scorecards.

Adrian Rodriguez vs. Elias Montoya Terraza, lightweight, 10 rounds. The meeting of two undefeated lightweights has at least one undefeated record. Rodriguez is 10-0 with 6 knockouts and Terraza is 13-0 with 8 knockouts.

The long-discussed fight between Bruce Carrington and the WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza has not yet taken place, even though both fighters compete under the Top Rank banner.

The newly crowned WBC champion, who will defend his title for the first time on July 4 at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio, against undefeated challenger Rene Palacio (19-0-1, 10 KO), shared his thoughts on the reasons why this fight did not take place.

“I think Espinosa might be a little more strategic if he wants to fight me against others,” Carrington told Ring magazine when discussing a potential meeting with Rafael Espinoza. “I think his team, and maybe even Top Rank, are kind of preparing us to fight each other at the end, like the massive crescendo. You know what I’m saying? So I’m not mad. From a business standpoint, it sounds really good.”

On June 8 at the Madison Square Garden Theater in Modern York, Carrington (16-0, 9 KO) defeated Mateus Heita in the ninth round to win the vacant WBC featherweight title. Although Espinoza has become one of the division’s top names, Carrington believes IBF champion Angelo Leo and WBA titleholder Brandon Figueroa may be more willing to pursue a unification fight.

“I think Angelo Leo and Figueroa are definitely the two fighters that are most likely to fight me,” Carrington said.

Espinoza (28-0, 24 KO) has held the WBO featherweight title since defeating Robeisy Ramirez in December 2023. Carrington’s future meeting with Espinoza was expected to square the two undefeated champions in what many consider one of the biggest fights available in the featherweight division.

Dan Ambrose is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24, respected for his direct analysis and extensive coverage of the global fight landscape. His reports focus on the most critical fights, division development and the most discussed stories in sports.

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Last update: 2026/06/10 at 13:44