Gervonta Davis is stepping out of his professional run briefly for a big-time exhibition fight against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul. It will be streaming live on Netflix, and ‘Tank’ will become the first actual boxer, for many, to fight the former Disney star in his prime. There is a huge size discrepancy, but that doesn’t matter because Davis is a big star with a big drawing power.

However, things weren’t always rainbows and sunshine for the Baltimore native. Now that he’s at the summit of the boxing world, Gervonta Davis might have found it baffling how far he has come from his humble, more often than not bumpy childhood. Here’s what we know about his life growing up ahead of his fight against Jake Paul.

Who are Gervonta Davis’ parents, Garrin Davis and Kenya Brown?

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 7, 1994, to Garrin Davis and Kenya Brown, Gervonta Davis grew up in a place far removed from his current uber-luxurious lifestyle. Lack of material comforts aside, what probably marred his early life was the absence of a normal childhood. Since his father was never around, Davis and his siblings were brought up largely by his mother.

The lack of his father being around saw Gervonta Davis’s mother take up all the responsibilities on her shoulders. You’d be intrigued to know that she never wanted ‘Tank’ to get into boxing due to health and safety concerns. But later, she started liking her son’s performance, especially his 2022 fight against Roland Romero. “See, at first, I was angry; not really angry but … I started seeing him, come out [tonight] and do — I knew it was going to be a win. And my attitude changed,” Davis’s mother told EsNews. However, life was not that easy for ‘Tank’ when he was young because his mother wasn’t always with him.

Did Gervonta Davis grow up in foster homes? His childhood struggles

If a tough time growing up wasn’t enough, for a long time, substance abuse afflicted both Gervonya Davis’s parents. Reportedly, he spent a considerable part of his childhood in multiple foster homes. A 2019 article in the Los Angeles Times quoted Gervonta Davis saying, “My mother did drugs… It took my grandma about three years to get us back as we went into different homes—to a foster family, to a group home.”

“It was like we were locked up, too—the only times we could see our family was for about 30 minutes in this little room,” the boxer added. Gervonta Davis, nevertheless, fought through adversity and overcame the challenges in life. But that would not have happened if he hadn’t found boxing. More than that, it was his first coach, Calvin Ford, who mentored him and even became a fighter-figure and still trains the 30-0 boxing star.

How coach Calvin Ford saved Gervonta Davis from the streets

Things took a positive turn for Davis when, with some assistance from his uncle, he landed up at coach Calvin Ford‘s gym. Boxing proved to be the salvation the young boy had been chasing after for so long. In Baltimore’s Uptown Boxing Center, in Ford, who had himself served a sentence earlier, ‘Tank’ found a father figure. Boxing provided much-needed stability for the future world champion.

The discipline and, more significantly, a sense of purpose kept Gervonta Davis away from the streets. Right from the time he started, his talent separated him from others. The world learned about him as he began participating in amateur championships. Apart from the National Golden Glove and a slew of National Silver Gloves, Gervonta Davis won two National Junior Olympic gold medals and a few other prominent events.

Before he switched to professional boxing in 2013, Davis had amassed an enviable amateur record. On February 22, 2013, he debuted professionally against Desi Williams, winning the bout with a first-round knockout. He hasn’t looked back since. He has really come a long way because if we go back and look at his younger days, things were really a mess.

Gervonta Davis’ early life in Sandtown-Winchester, Baltimore

The area, Sandtown-Winchester, where Davis grew up, was rife with crime and poverty. He could be a star today, but ‘Tank’ himself admitted once that he used to be a “bad kid.” And since his parents weren’t always coherent enough, with his mom often leaving him and his siblings on their own in their house, his grandmother wanted to take custody of them.

Also, Gervonta Davis did not make anything easy for himself either because he’d constantly get into trouble. “I was fighting a lot. Fighting at school. Fighting on the block,” the boxing star told VLADTV. Seeing Davis having a knack for fighting, his uncle then took the responsibility to straighten him out, and that’s when boxing appeared to save Davis’s life. And the rest is history.

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