Boxer Gervonta Davis Caught On Tape Brutalizing Baby Mama Andretta Smothers — Watch Horrifying Video
This video is truly disturbing.
getty He's a two-weight world champion in boxing, and he's held prestigious boxing titles since 2017. He's ranked as the second-best active super-featherweight fighter in the world, and has a knockout-to-win ratio of 95.5 percent, one of the highest ratios in the world.
Yet it's possible that all this could be forgotten, in the blink of an eye, because of the horrifying abuse he inflicted on his baby mama, Andretta Smothers — which was all caught on camera.
Be warned: the video is horrifying and especially triggering to those who have suffered domestic abuse.
So who is Gervonta Davis, and what was caught on tape? Let's take a look at what we know about him.
1. Who is Gervonta Davis? He's a professional boxer who has never lost a fight.
In the 23 fights that Davis has engaged in as a boxer, no matter the weight class, he's never lost a fight. He's won 22 fights by knockout, and one by decision.
His professional career, however, really started increasing in profile in 2017, when he fought as part of the co-main event in the Floyd Mayweather/Conor McGregor battle royale.
2. He has a long history of assault.
Davis doesn't just keep his fighting inside the ring — he has a long and disturbing history of assault outside the ring, as well. In 2017, he was arrested for assaulting a friend of his by punching him on the side of the head; the friend later declined to pursue charges.
In 2018, he was arrested again for an assault, this time taking place outside of a Washington DC-area nightclub; and in 2019, he was arrested for yet another assault, this time for an assault in Virginia — more details on that below.
3. Each time he was charged, Davis claimed he was innocent.
No matter how many times he's been arrested for assault, Davis has always claimed innocence. His 2017 case was certainly helped by the fact that the friend declined to pursue the charges. And while it's unclear what happened in the 2018 case, it's clear Davis feels he was being railroaded in the 2019 case.
According to the victim in the case, Davis assaulted him on or about February 27, 2019, and the police were unsuccessful in contacting him about the facts of the case, so the magistrate issued an arrest warrant. But Davis, of course, has a different story.
"As soon as I was made aware of the warrant I told my attorney to contact the Fairfax Virginia Police Department to address this matter. I immediately went to the police department and fully cooperated with the police. I was never processed by the police or placed into custody. I just signed the warrant and agreed to appear in court at a future time. I’m eager to put this matter behind me and continue my career," he said about the arrest, trying desperately to downplay the severity of the situation.
4. He and Andretta Smothers, his baby mama, have had a tumultuous relationship.
Even before this disturbing footage made its way to the Internet, Smothers' relationship with Davis has been volatile, to say the least. The couple's daughter, Gervanni Davis, was born in April 2018, but their family hasn't been the picture of familial love and support.
In December 2018, Smothers took Davis to family court to demand an increase in child support — from the $2200 a month that she was getting, to the $10,000 a month that was more in line with Davis' salary bracket. She also alleged that Davis would often demand sex from her in exchange for child support.
5. This latest domestic violence incident took place during a charity basketball game.
As the video above shows, Davis roughly grabs Smothers by her neck and pulls her out of her chair during a charity basketball game in Miami, Florida, just one night before the Super Bowl. The video also shows Davis, ultimately, pushing Smothers out the door as horrified people look on. Ultimately, they were both escorted out of the game by the security on site.
6. But Davis denies harming Smothers.
Right after the video went viral, Davis took to his Instagram stories to deny harming Smothers. (He subsequently deleted all of his posts on his Instagram page.)
"I never once hit her. Yeah I was aggressive and told her come on. That's the mother of my child. I would never hurt her," he said in the story.
7. Davis was subsequently arrested.
On February 5, 2020, at approximately 7:15 a.m. PT, Davis was arrested and charged with simple battery domestic violence, stemming from the incident on the tape. "As a result of an ongoing investigation after being notified through social media and the victim, on Feb. 1, 2020, [Davis] was observed battering his former girlfriend whom [sic] have child together. [Davis] surrendered himself, to the Coral Gables Police detectives assigned to the case," said the Coral Gables police, in a statement.
Additional evidence suggests that Davis continued to brutalize Smothers after he got out of the range of the camera. Davis took Smothers to a back room, then struck her with a closed fist, repeatedly, bruising her face and her lip. Smothers gave a statement to the police, cooperated with their investigation, and allowed the police to take photos of her injuries.
8. And Davis released a statement on social media.
Shortly after he was released from his arrest, Davis took to his Instagram stories to address his attack on Smothers. "Be careful with the decision you make..one mistaken can mess up everything..I'm learning," he said.
You can check out a screenshot of his statement below.
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Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, publicist, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more.