MD court rejects attempt by ex-manager of boxer Gervonta Davis to seek more money

In a ruling earlier this Month, the Maryland Appellate Court rebuffed a former manager of a professional Baltimore boxer seeking a percentage of the athlete’s earnings from fights, after he paid them nearly half-a-million dollars to resolve a breached contract.

In an unreported opinion written by Chief Judge Gregory Wells, the Maryland Appellate Court held Gervonta Davis fully satisfied a 2019 default judgment against him of $468,000 to his former manager, Wayne Roy, and creditor Kevin Batiste, who are not entitled to further discovery.

Davis, a world-champion boxer who currently holds the World Boxing Association’s lightweight title, entered into a five-year management contract with Roy in October 2013 under which Roy would receive 15% of all of Davis’s winnings. In November of that year, Davis sought new managers; Roy and Batiste signed a settlement agreement and release with Davis in February 2014 whereby Davis would be released from his contract in exchange for $35,000 to be paid within two years.

In 2017, Batiste and Roy sued Davis in the Baltimore City Circuit Court for breach of contract, alleging Davis paid them only $2,000 of the $35,000 owed to them under the agreement. The following year, the court entered a default order against Davis due to his failure to appear or respond, from which the 2019 default judgment was eventually entered.

Though Davis paid Batiste and Roy $468,000 in 2022 in accordance with the judgment agreement, they did not record the judgment as satisfied and continued further discovery efforts, during which the pair did not inform the court of the 2022 agreement and claimed a modification provision of the default judgment allows them to continue discovery to seek payment from earnings of Davis’s other fights.

Louis Malick, counsel for Davis, said he and co-counsel are pleased with the appellate court’s decision. Counsel for Roy and Batiste did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The court found the appellants could not pursue discovery to seek payment from Davis’s winnings.

“Once Davis paid the $468,000, the judgment was satisfied, and there was no longer a money judgment to modify,” Wells wrote. “If there is no money judgment to modify, Creditors cannot continue to pursue post-judgment discovery against Davis for a ‘hypothetical or potential money judgment.’ ”

Wells wrote that Roy and Batiste effectively asked for a post-satisfaction-of-judgment discovery, which “would completely contravene the Maryland rules and due process.”

“It would grant all creditors the ability to endlessly harass individuals for money they have not proven to be owed in a court of law,” Wells wrote. “Indeed, it is bold of Creditors to suggest a ruling in Davis’s favor would promote bad behavior when they failed to inform the court in their motions and ex parte hearings about the existence of the 2014 release of financial obligation between Davis and Roy and the 2022 Agreement. These omissions skew the facts and affect the legitimacy of Creditors’ claims.”

Davis, also known as “Tank,” has secured millions in fight purse earnings, endorsement deals and other ventures that place him at a reported $10 million net worth. A West Baltimore native, Davis in recent years purchased homes from the block where he grew up and has said he has plans to build his real estate portfolio.

Davis has been at the center of a number of legal troubles.

In spring 2023, Davis served a 90-day house arrest sentence in a Baltimore hit-and-run case that injured multiple people in November 2020. In 2022, police in Florida arrested Davis for allegedly striking a woman with a “closed hand type slap,” after which the woman recanted her accusation.

In 2020, Florida police charged Davis with simple battery domestic violence following an alleged incident with the mother of his daughter on the University of Miami campus. In 2019, Fairfax County police issued an arrest warrant for Davis in connection with an alleged altercation at a mall in McLean, Virginia; the case was later dismissed.

Davis announced plans to retire from boxing at the end of this year and seek therapy, according to The Baltimore Banner.