Gervonta Davis finished Hector Luis Garcia last night in Washington, DC to seemingly set up a bout with his long-time rival Ryan Garcia in April.
The WBA 'regular' lightweight champion defended his belt once again with stoppage No.26 or his 28-bout professional career after a tumultuous build-up and is now set to face Garcia in a massive cross-promotional bout later this year. He made the capacity crowd of over 19,000 wait until 1AM for his bout to begin, and took some time to get going in the early exchanges.
Once again, Davis proved his considerable drawing power just down the road from his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland and began to impress after about four rounds. He then began to take over the contest, and despite an unexpected and spirited effort from the Dominican was able to control proceedings.
Fans had been worried that the champion's arrest on a charge of domestic violence at the end of last month could see the bout cancelled. But broadcasters Showtime continued with the event when the woman alleged to have reported Davis put out a statement on social media days later saying that he “did not harm me or our daughter.”
In the eighth, Davis unleashed some of his devastating shots, staggering Garcia with a combination of punches including a left that pushed him to the ropes, followed by a right body shot and a big left. The Dominican fighter couldn't emerge for round nine, handing Davis another stoppage and later declaring that he "didn't know where he was".
Prior to the knockout, the bout was briefly stopped by the referee to allow time for a ringside fight to be broken up. It appeared that the altercation was between former featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr and rapper Meek Mill, and caused a lengthy break in proceedings.
Are you excited to finally see Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Speaking after the fight, Davis appeared to confirm that he is facing Ryan Garcia next, saying during his in-ring interview with Showtime: "I'm ready for the fight. It's scheduled for April. I'm here. He's been training, he's been talking and let's see who's really about that."
At the post-fight press conference, Davis added: "If it was up to me Ryan would definitely be next, we somewhat got everything going in the right direction. So we're just waiting for Ryan to accept on his side and let's get the job done... Ryan is a baby clown, tell him to get ready."
The younger Garcia, for his part, took to social media to respond by expressing his confidence that he would come out on top in a clash between the pair. After sending one analytical tweet during the fight, he wrote "Goodbye Tank is over for you," followed by "No more talking let’s get it on," as well as confirming an April 15 fight date.
