Becoming a world champion is something that practically every fighter dreams of. With that salient goal in mind, they normally immure themselves in their respective gyms for years while working tirelessly on their games. Once their dreams become a reality, a sigh of relief is let out.
That said, grabbing a world title, whether it’s the first in their collection or the 20th, has to come under certain circumstances. Ideally, fighters would rather take on the division’s champion. Beating the head honcho is sweet but, considering that there’s a proliferation of titles, facing the division’s lead dog is sometimes out of the question.
If fighting a world champion isn’t a viable option, then taking on the next best contender for a vacant title is acceptable as well. But while grabbing that shiny golden trinket is important, there’s one scenario that fighters flat-out loathe…elevation.
For whatever reason, virtually every sanctioning body gives out secondary titles, despite their major title holder being injury-free. In this case, the WBA has given out belts like candy on Halloween.
In the lightweight division, Devin Haney held the WBA super title. Just below him, Gervonta Davis is in possession of the WBA’s “Regular” title. A consolidation of the titles never took place. Meaning, the WBA allowed both fighters to carry their trinkets and maintain their championship status.
Recently, however, Devin Haney moved up in weight. The 25-year-old held onto his three lightweight titles, including the WBA, but after thinking things over, he saw no point in keeping them.
Now, with Haney dropping the rest of his 135-pound belts, Davis is set to be elevated. In the coming days or weeks, Davis will be notified via email of his new status.
Normally, that elevation has led to fighters and fans poking fun at said fighter. Davis, nevertheless, refuses to be called an email champion. Although he knows that the WBA is simply following protocol, he recently sent them a direct message letting them know that they can keep their super title and toss it in the nearest trash bin.
“I don’t want that sh!t,” said Davis on his social media account. “I want blood.”