Can anyone beat Gervonta Davis?
Ryan Garcia is a damn good fighter, and he didn’t even come close Saturday night before 20,842 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, taking a vicious left to the body that forced him to quit on one knee in the seventh round.
The dramatic ending – Davis’ 27th knockout in 29 victories – was only the punctuation mark on another superb all-around performance by Tank.
Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) isn’t as established as some elite fighters near his weight but he’s a well-schooled, terrific athlete with one-punch knockout power. And Davis defused almost everything he tried to do.
"He said it and he did it": Twitter reacts to Gervonta Davis' body shot KO of Ryan Garcia#DavisGarcia | Full story: https://t.co/ZTE0J6rTnRpic.twitter.com/Q8Ac1bM4WU
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) April 23, 2023
The 24-year-old from California attacked Davis aggressively several times in Round 2 in an attempt take charge, only to have Davis tie him up in each instance. Then a short left from Davis put Garcia down.
Garcia landed a few nice right hands in Round 6, which was perhaps his best round and gave him hope of turning the momentum. Then, in the next round, the fight was over.
Garcia’s vaunted left hook? It was as if it didn’t exist.
Davis didn’t beat up Garcia but he beat him convincingly. He outboxed him from the second round on, did enough to win the rounds, put Garcia down twice and scored a highlight reel knockout while taking almost no punishment himself.
The scores – 59-55, 58-56 and 58-56 – might seem to indicate that the fight was close. It wasn’t. It was another dominating performance by Davis, who continues to build a case that he’s the best boxer in the world.
“You really don’t know until you actually get in with an opponent,” Davis said in the ring afterward. “Once I got in there with him, I felt, skill wise, it was [not a good match].”
The knockout was painful to watch.
Davis and Garcia were in close quarters when Davis, in a crouching position, lifted up his head and poked a straight left hand into the right side of Garcia.
Garcia took a step back and turned slightly but it didn’t seem to be a fight-ending shot. Then he winced and dropped to a knee in obvious pain. And that’s where he stayed when referee Thomas Taylor reached the count of 10.
Garcia was gutted in more ways than one.
“He just caught me with a good shot,” Garcia said. “I don’t want to make excuses. He caught me with a good shot and I just couldn’t recover. That’s it, all I want to say.”
Davis said that he wasn’t sure whether he had landed the decisive blow.
“I thought he was going to get up,” Davis said and then described eye contact between the rivals. “I like to play mind games. When he looked at me, I looked at him like I was saying, ‘Get up.’ He shook his head, saying, ‘no.’”
Where does the victory leave Davis?
The obvious next step is to pursue one of the top 135-pounders next, undisputed champion Devin Haney, Vasiliy Lomachenko or Shakur Stevenson, all of whom have a stronger resume than Garcia.
It’s not clear how the matchmaking will play out. Haney is scheduled to defend against Lomachenko on May 20. And Stevenson fights for a rival outfit, Top Rank.
The big fights will come, though. Davis is too good, too popular to avoid if anyone has a mind to do so.
How popular is he? The organizers of the event on Saturday declared repeatedly that the winner would become the face of boxing because of the fighters’ combination of ability, massive social media following and, in Davis’ case, the ability to pack arenas.
That might be an overstatement with Canelo Alvarez still active. Then again, maybe Davis has already overtaken the Mexican star, who might be in decline.
Tank was asked afterward whether he’s now the face of the sport. He didn’t hesitate when he responded.
“I’m definitely the face of boxing,” he said. “Abso-f*cking-lutely.”
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