Gervonta Davis, a three-division world champion and one of boxing’s biggest stars, was taken into custody in Miami on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after police issued an arrest warrant accusing the fighter of battery, false imprisonment and attempted kidnapping in connection with an alleged domestic violence incident last fall.
Miami Gardens police said Davis was apprehended following a multi-day surveillance operation conducted across three counties in coordination with the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force. Authorities said he was arrested without incident in Miami’s Design District and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center late Wednesday night.
According to police, the warrant stemmed from an alleged confrontation on 27 October at a strip club in Miami Gardens, where a woman who had previously been in a relationship with Davis was working as a VIP cocktail server. Investigators allege that Davis confronted the woman inside the club, forcibly took her into a back room and assaulted her before restraining her and escorting her outside.
A police report states that Davis allegedly grabbed the woman by her hair and throat while making a threatening remark, then led her to a parking area before releasing her. The woman later sought help from coworkers and contacted police. Officers documented visible injuries, including bruising to her arm, according to authorities.
The woman told investigators she first met Davis in 2022 and that the two were involved in an intimate relationship for several months in 2025. She said the relationship ended roughly a month before the alleged incident and that she had cut off communication with him.
In addition to filing a police report, the woman initiated a civil lawsuit against Davis, alleging multiple counts including battery, false imprisonment and kidnapping. One of her attorneys said earlier this month that the findings of the police investigation mirrored the claims raised in the civil complaint.
“The investigation resulted in a judge signing off on an arrest warrant,” the attorney said in January. “That determination aligns with the allegations set out in the lawsuit.”
Court filings indicate that attorneys representing the woman told a judge they made repeated attempts to serve Davis with the civil complaint but were unable to locate him in the weeks following its filing.
At a news conference announcing the warrant on 14 January, Miami Gardens police characterized the case as a domestic violence incident and said detectives were actively working with federal authorities to locate Davis. Police declined to provide additional details Wednesday night, citing the ongoing legal process.
Davis, 31, had been training in Miami last fall for a high-profile bout with influencer Jake Paul scheduled for November at Kaseya Center. He was removed from the card shortly after the lawsuit became public and later replaced by Britain’s Anthony Joshua. His most recent appearance in the ring came in March, when he retained his World Boxing Association lightweight championship following a highly controversial draw with Lamont Roach Jr in Brooklyn.
But WBA president Gilberto Mendoza announced the sanctioning body had stripped Davis of the title over the weekend, citing both the pending legal case and the fighter’s inactivity. Davis has defended the title just twice in the past three years, most recently against Roach more than 10 months ago, and does not currently have a fight scheduled.
The arrest adds to a lengthy list of legal issues that have followed Davis throughout his career. He has faced multiple domestic violence-related allegations in Florida and elsewhere, several of which were later dropped. In 2023, Davis was sentenced in Maryland to three years of probation and a period of house arrest following a hit-and-run conviction in Baltimore.
It remains unclear whether the new charges in Florida could affect Davis’s probationary status in Maryland or the timeline of any future bouts. Jail and court records did not immediately indicate when he is expected to make his first court appearance in Miami-Dade County.
Miami Gardens police said the investigation remains active and declined to comment further.
