Ryan Garcia admits he “couldn’t breathe” after Gervonta Davis stopped him in the seventh round of their boxing super-fight in Las Vegas.
‘KingRy’ had recovered from a second-round knockdown and slowly started to impose his jab to tee up bigger right hands, albeit without every truly troubling Davis.
Garcia was unable to utilise the left-hook with which he is most associated and was finally felled with a body shot in the seventh.
The 24-year-old had first tried to carry on but was forced to take a knee and failed to beat the count.
Andy Ruiz and Tony Bellew were amongst the voices to have criticised Garcia for not continuing, while Davis himself admitted he thought his opponent would get back on his feet.
Still, speaking after his defeat, Garcia said: "He caught me with a good body shot and I just couldn’t recover.
“I couldn’t breathe. I just couldn’t get up.”
Of Davis and after a heated weigh-in on Friday, Garcia added: “Tank is a great fighter. I take my hat off to him.
“We talked a lot of s***, but it’s all love at the end of the day. I was honoured to be in the ring with a great fighter and I respect him a lot.”
