Los Angeles A superbly timed left hand from Gervonta “Tank” Davis that stunned Ryan Garcia’s opponent twice during their super fight on Saturday caused him to take a beating before dropping to one knee.
Garcia failed to overturn the count this time.
At 1 minute and 44 seconds into Round 7, with Garcia still on one knee and gasping for air, referee Thomas Taylor reached the count of 10. The most anticipated boxing battle in years ended with Davis’ triumph in front of 20,842 spectators at the packed T-Mobile Arena.
In a 136-pound catchweight fight preceded by months of trash talk and excitement, Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) solidified himself as one of boxing’s top fighters pound-for-pound, if not the sport’s biggest star, with that one left punch.
“I thought he was going to get up,” Davis said, ‘but I like to play mind games, so when he was looking at me, I was looking at him trying to tell him, ‘Get up,’ and then he just shook his head, ‘No.'”
Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) was likewise knocked out in Round 2 by a well-timed counter left hand that came straight at him. Garcia immediately jumped up after his body hit the canvas, demonstrating that the shot hadn’t wounded him. Throughout the fight, he exhibited no adverse effects from the knockdown.
But even though they don’t provide the level of carnage fans crave, body shots like the one Davis delivered in the seventh are a different species.
“I couldn’t breathe,” Garcia said. “I was going to get back up, but I just couldn’t get up. … He just caught me with a good shot. I don’t want to make no excuses in here. … I just couldn’t recover. … He caught me with a good body shot, snuck under me and caught me good.”
The battle primarily consisted of tactical maneuvers, with Davis, the better all-around fighter (despite giving up 4.5 inches in height), trying to time Garcia. Davis, 28, used feints to lure Garcia while attempting to expose him.
The punches were thrown with blinding speed and thunderous power in a fight between two of the fastest hands and the most devastating finishers in the sport. Despite their fame, only Davis has held the championship before. Davis defeated Jose Pedraza in the seventh round to claim the 130-pound division in 2017.
Davis competes at 135 pounds and is ranked No. 3 by ESPN in the lightweight division. However, he has fought once at 140 pounds, defeating Mario Barrios in the 11th round by technical knockout in June 2021.
Although Garcia had previously fought at 135 pounds, his two last fights were held at the 140-pound weight limit.
Since neither boxer could weigh more than 146 pounds for a contest with a 136-pound catchweight, Davis’ team made a contractual demand that both fighters weigh in again the morning before the bout.
The outcome of the game of scales didn’t appear to be affected. As he noted before the match, Davis proved a clear advantage in ring IQ.
“The first knockdown was just him not knowing his placement, and I knew that I was the smaller guy, and my coach [Calvin Ford] was telling me in camp that he’s going to come up with his head up, so just shoot over the top,” said Davis, who, instead of attacking carelessly, boxed slowly afterward. “Once I got in there with him, I felt like skill-wise, it was unmatched.”
Garcia is frequently underrated due to his model features and 9.8 million Instagram followers, but he once more showed his mettle.
In his career-best victory over Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell, Garcia avoided a knockdown, also in Round 2, but came back to finish him with a left hook to the body in Round 7.
Garcia will now switch back to junior welterweight, where he will compete for his first world title.
“I plan to fight the best fighters at 140 [pounds],” said Garcia, who, after defeating Campbell, underwent wrist surgery, dealt with his mental health, and endured a 15-month sabbatical.
“I felt a little weak going into the ring,” Garcia said. “I didn’t feel my legs under me. … But I can’t make excuses. I signed the contract, and that’s that.”
Rematch provisions were included in the contract, but only Davis could activate his right to a quick rematch if he dropped the fight.
“This is what boxing needs,” Garcia mentioned a unique encounter between two prominent athletes during their primes. “This is why I did whatever I had to do to make the fight happen.”
Sources told ESPN that both fighters were guaranteed to earn eight figures from an event that was anticipated to generate a windfall from the gate and pay-per-view. Those efforts also included the concession on the weight and even the lead promoter of the contest.
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Davis is affiliated with the PBC and only competes on Showtime, the PPV’s flagship network. Garcia competes on DAZN for Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
Davis should ascend to a new level on the boxing top fighters list and even the hierarchy of sports stars, while Garcia, who competes in Los Angeles, returns to the drawing board.
On Saturday night, the most prominent stars were ringside to take it all in, from the NFL to the NBA to music and film.
However, Davis’ legal issues must also be addressed. He pleaded guilty to four crimes concerning a November 2020 hit-and-run incident that injured four people, including a pregnant mother. He is now scheduled to be sentenced on May 5 in his hometown of Baltimore.
A plea agreement that would have spared Davis from going to jail in exchange for house detention was already rejected by the judge presiding over the case.
The next court appearance for Davis, charged with violence in a December incident, is on May 26 in Broward County, Florida.
The lady, the mother of Davis’ kid, asked to have the charges dropped in an affidavit in January when she later recanted. 11 days had passed after the alleged incident before Davis defeated Hector Luis Garcia via ninth-round TKO.
