Gervonta Davis

Davis was raised in Baltimore's Sandtown-Winchester community and has a brother named Damien. He has three children, including a daughter with Andretta Smothers and a daughter and son with Vanessa Posso. In 2022, he was romantically linked to Posso.

Davis converted to Islam in December 2023 and adopted the Muslim name Abdul Wahid. In August 2021, he was aboard a Gulfstream 4 that skidded off the runway at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport after a nosewheel collapse. He and the other people aboard were not injured.

Davis began training at Baltimore's Upton Boxing Center when he was five years old. He was trained by Calvin Ford, who was an inspiration for the character Dennis "Cutty" Wise in the HBO series The Wire.

His amateur accomplishments included the 2012 National Golden Gloves championship, three consecutive National Silver Gloves championships, two National Junior Olympics gold medals, two National Police Athletic League championships, and two Ringside World Championships. He finished his amateur career with 206 wins and 15 losses.

Davis made his professional debut at age 18 on February 22, 2013, defeating Desi Williams by first-round knockout. He won the IBF super featherweight title by stopping José Pedraza in the seventh round at Barclays Center in January 2017. He defended the belt against Liam Walsh in London three months later, winning by third-round stoppage.

After losing the IBF title on the scales before his fight with Francisco Fonseca, Davis still won by eighth-round knockout. He returned to the championship picture by stopping Jesús Cuellar in the third round for a WBA super featherweight title in 2018. In 2019, he moved to lightweight and stopped Yuriorkis Gamboa in the twelfth round to win the WBA lightweight title.

Davis later added the WBA super featherweight title by stopping Léo Santa Cruz in 2020 and became a three-division champion by defeating Mario Barrios for the WBA super lightweight title in 2021. He retained his lightweight title against Isaac Cruz by unanimous decision, Rolando Romero by sixth-round stoppage, and Héctor García by ninth-round stoppage.

Davis faced Ryan Garcia in a highly anticipated catchweight bout at T-Mobile Arena in April 2023. He dropped Garcia in the second round and stopped him in the seventh with a body shot, giving Garcia the first defeat of his professional career. The victory was Davis's 29th professional win.

After Devin Haney vacated the WBA lightweight championship, Davis was elevated to primary champion. He returned from a layoff in June 2024 to stop Frank Martin in the eighth round and retain the title. Against Lamont Roach Jr. in March 2025, Davis retained the belt in a majority draw, the first draw of his professional career. The decision generated controversy after Davis took a knee in the ninth round, but the New York State Athletic Commission allowed the result to stand.

Davis fights as a southpaw and is known for knockout power, counterpunching, and ring intelligence. He uses his jab to control distance, pivots to improve his position, and employs slips, shoulder rolls, feints, and footwork to avoid incoming punches.

His long guard helps block an opponent's vision and control the space between them. Davis frequently attacks the body to lower an opponent's guard before targeting the head with hooks and uppercuts.

In 2017, Davis faced an assault charge connected to an incident involving Anthony Wheeler at the Upton Boxing Center. The charge was later dropped, and Davis and Wheeler embraced after leaving court. Davis was also arrested in Washington, D.C., in 2018 after a reported street fight.

Davis pleaded guilty in 2023 to charges connected to a 2020 hit-and-run crash in Baltimore, including leaving an accident involving bodily injury, failing to notify an owner of property damage, driving on a suspended license, and running a red light. He received 90 days of house arrest and three years of probation, was taken into custody for violating home detention, and completed the confinement portion of his sentence after 44 days.