Gervonta Davis was sentenced to 90 days of home detention, three years of probation and 200 hours of community service Friday for his hit-and-run accident in November 2020 in Baltimore.
Davis will serve his sentence at the Baltimore home of Calvin Ford, Davis’ longtime trainer and father figure. He also must perform his community service in Baltimore, Davis’ hometown.
The Baltimore Banner’s Dylan Segelbaum first reported the news of Davis’ punishment Friday.
According to Segelbaum, Baltimore Circuit Judge Althea M. Handy admonished Davis during his sentencing hearing for not apologizing to Jyair Smith, the driver of the car Davis’ SUV hit 2½ years ago.
“Three words. I am sorry,” Handy said to Davis in the courtroom. “And he was not man enough to do that. … He’s shown absolutely now remorse.”
Davis, 28, pleaded guilty February 16 to four counts related to that accident. One of boxing’s biggest stars waived his right that day to a trial and pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident involving bodily injury, failure to locate and notify an owner of unattended property damage, driving with a revoked license and failure to stop at a red light.
Davis’ sentencing took place less than two weeks after his seventh-round knockout of rival Ryan Garcia in a Showtime Pay-Per-View main event April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The undefeated Davis has already fought twice this year, including the highest-profile fight of his 10-year professional career last month. The length of his home confinement is not expected to prevent Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) from fighting a third time late in 2023.
An investigation into the abovementioned two-car accident revealed Davis drove his Lamborghini through a red light and broadsided a 2004 Toyota Solara driven by Smith in the early-morning hours of November 5, 2020. Davis reportedly helped an unidentified woman out of the passenger seat of his Lamborghini and left the scene of the accident before authorities arrived.
Baltimore City Circuit judge Melissa Phinn rejected a plea agreement offered by an attorney for Davis and prosecutors in September. That proposal would’ve required Davis to serve 60 days of unsupervised home confinement.
Phinn instead ordered a trial, in part because Smith testified that a serious knee injury suffered during the accident rendered her incapable of maintaining a job and playing with her children, despite extensive physical therapy. Smith also testified that Davis didn’t offer her or any of her three passengers any assistance before he left the scene.
Davis reportedly reached financial settlements with the three passengers in Smith’s vehicle, but not Smith.
Though this case has been resolved, Davis also has a May 26 hearing scheduled at Broward County Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, related to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge of battery causing bodily harm.
Davis was arrested December 27 in Parkland, Florida for allegedly striking Vanessa Posso, the mother of the younger of Davis’ two daughters, on the right side of her head. He pleaded not guilty in that case.
A police report of that incident indicated that Davis hit Posso with a “closed hand type slap” and caused an abrasion on the inside of her right lip.
Posso called 911, but she recanted her story soon thereafter in a statement posted from her Instagram account. She stated that Davis “did not harm me or our daughter.”
Davis was released December 28 on $1,000 bail after spending one night in a Broward County correctional facility.
That arrest occurred toward the end of Davis’ training camp for his WBA world lightweight title fight against Hector Luis Garcia on January 7. Only 11 days after his arrest, Davis defeated the previously unbeaten Garcia by ninth-round technical knockout at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.