Gervonta Davis has been accused of battery, false imprisonment and kidnapping by an ex-girlfriend in a new civil lawsuit filed weeks before his boxing match with Jake Paul.
In a civil case filed on Thursday in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Courtney Rossel claimed WBA lightweight world champion Davis entered the nightclub where she worked in the early hours of Monday morning and attacked her.
The lawsuit states Davis stormed into Tootsies, where Rossel was working as a VIP cocktail waitress, dragging her through a stairwell and through the back exit of the premises before attacking her in the car park.
According to the complaint, Davis grabbed, choked, pushed, pulled, and hit her on the back of the head during the incident.
Rossel was in a five-month relationship with Davis, accusing him of aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Rossel said in the lawsuit that there were ‘at least’ four other incidents in which Davis ‘physically assaulted and choked’ her having threatened to kill her on two separate occasions.
The first incident is alleged to have taken place on 2 September when David threatened to kill Rossel for not responding to his calls and messages. A second which took place on 23 September alleges Davis accused Rossel of infidelity, physically assaulting her at a restaurant in Miami later that day.
The lawsuit claims Rossel is suffering from PTSD as a result of the emotional and physical harm caused by Davis with her lawyers demanding compensatory and punitive damages and a request for a jury trial.
Metro has contacted Davis’ representatives for comment.
Calvin Ford, Davis’ trainer, described the lawsuit ‘nonsense’ when contacted by USA TODAY Sports and said they were ‘trying to see where it’s coming from.’
Metro has also reached out to Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions who are promoting the Paul vs Davis showdown on 14 November in Miami.
Davis has previous arrests for domestic violence. In 2020, he was charged with domestic battery after forcibly removing the mother of his child from her seat at a basketball game by grabbing her by the neck in an incident captured on video. Davis turned himself in and posted bail but denied the accusations.
In 2022, Davis was arrested again on another domestic violence charge. He also served 44 days in jail in 2023 after violating the terms of a 90-day house arrest sentence in relation to a criminal hit-and-run case that took place in Baltimore in November 2020.
In July this year, Davis was arrested again on misdemeanour domestic violence charges relating to an incident that took place on Father’s Day in Miami. In August, the case was dropped after the woman declined to prosecute the boxer.
Davis and Paul will fight live on Netflix in two weeks under exhibition rules – meaning the result of the fight will not appear on either man’s professional record.
The two came face-to-face for the first time in September at a press conference where the remarkable size difference between the two men was on show. Paul is 6ft 1ins tall and regularly fights at 200lbs as a cruiserweight. Davis is 5ft 5ins, reigning as world champion at lightweight where fighters weigh between 130lbs and 135lbs.