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Dan Rafael
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ESPN Senior Writer
- 2013 BWAA Nat Fleischer Award winner for excellence in boxing journalism
- ESPN.com boxing writer since 2005
- Five years at USA Today
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Steve Kim
An arrest warrant for one count of misdemeanor assault was issued for junior lightweight world titleholder Gervonta Davis following an altercation at a mall in McLean, Virginia on Feb. 17, Fairfax County Police told ESPN on Tuesday.
Davis allegedly had a run-in with a man at an ATM at the Tysons Galleria in suburban Washington, D.C., and then as police arrived to investigate the matter, began to bicker with them before shoving an officer, according to TMZ.com, which first reported the news.
“On Feb. 17 officers did interact with Mr. Davis after an allegation of an assault,” Lt. John Lieb, a public information officer for the Fairfax County Police, told ESPN.
Lieb said officers also spoke to the alleged victim on the date of the alleged incident, but no charges were filed at the time. Later, the alleged victim provided a sworn affidavit to a magistrate that he had been assaulted by Davis, Lieb said. That resulted in a warrant for Davis’ arrest being issued on Feb. 27.
Davis, who has had numerous legal issues, could face up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine if convicted.
Lieb said the warrant has not yet been served on Davis because police officers have not been able to get in touch with him.
“Officers have attempted to contact Mr. Davis and have been unsuccessful so far,” Lieb said.
Davis (21-0, 20 KOs), 24, a two-time world titleholder from Baltimore — a little over an hour by car from where the incident occurred — fought on Feb. 9 in Carson, California. He knocked out late-replacement opponent Hugo Ruiz in the first round of a Showtime-televised main event, and plans are in the works for a summer homecoming title defense in Baltimore.
Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, which promotes Davis, told ESPN on Tuesday, “We’ll let the judicial system play out.”
“Obviously, this is just an allegation,” he added. “Again, it just seems odd to me that a black man, allegedly, pushes or shoves — and I’m just reading what the TMZ article says — a police officer and he doesn’t get arrested on the spot, then a couple of weeks later, then they issue an arrest warrant based on their internal investigation. That just seems a little odd to me.”