The fight boxing fans have been waiting so patiently for appears to have cleared its final hurdle, at least according to retired great turned Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya. Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis will apparently go down on April 15, 2023 in Paradise, Nevada (venue TBA).
“Devil is in the details April 15 let’s go!” Oscar De La Hoya captioned an image of himself and Garcia holding what is ostensibly a contract for the upcoming hostilities at 135lbs between the two young rivals.
Over the weekend, De Lay Hoya threatened to scrap the highly-anticipated bout between Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 knockouts) and the reigning WBA lightweight title champion “Tank” Davis (28-0, 26 knockouts) that’s been in development for some time unless some paperwork came through after the US federal holiday (Martin Luther King Jr Day). And clearly, imposing a deadline worked.
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“The terms have been agreed upon. Everything is agreed upon: the venue, the money, the split for the fighters, for Tank, for Ryan. Everything is great. All we need is to put it on the long form. That’s basically it,” Oscar De La Hoya revealed prior to receiving the contract.
“I’ve never heard of a fight getting made a day before the fight or the week of the event – it’s unheard of. So I don’t know what [Stephen] Espinoza was talking about… hopefully we can get this wrapped up.”
Tank Davis recently defeated Hector Luis Garcia on January 7 as a tune-up fight, while Ryan Garcia is sticking by his rather ill-advised decision to forgo a tune-up altogether, instead electing to keep his calendar wide open and focus singular until he faces Davis inside the ring, wherein only one of them will be able to walk away with their undefeated status intact; while the other will wear the defeat on their once-pristine record from now until the end of time.
Many view this as Ryan Garcia’s biggest challenge yet as a professional boxer, and one that few can envision him walking away from victorious. While he certainly possesses elite hand speed, a mean check hook, a meaner straight right, and has been steadily evolving across the years, pundits and spectators alike have often been critical of his defensive capabilities. Particularly when it comes to his lack of head movement, lack of lateral movement, and tendency to leave his chin wide open.
Tank Davis, on the other hand, is viewed as the far more well-rounded athlete with bone-shattering punching power. Where there was some margin for error in Garcia’s previous fights – i.e. being knocked down by 2012 Olympic gold medallist Luke Campbell in Round 2 of their encounter, January 2021 (see: below) – he simply cannot afford to slip up against a world-beater of Davis’ rarefied calibre. One clean touch and it could very well be lights out.
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“Prediction for the fight – I say I’ll beat him in about two rounds,” Ryan Garcia boldly told The Joe Pomp Show.
“Part of me knows that I am just better than him. What I’ve seen from him. What I know about myself. What I know they are underestimating, just by the way he speaks and just how he fights.”
“But my main thing is that I don’t think he’s really ever understood adversity in a professional ring in his career. I think he’s always had an understanding that nothing can go wrong because of the talent he’s facing. I don’t think he’s felt any risk in the ring.”
Garcia added: “When I’m in there, obviously he knows it’s a different level of speed and power, and that I am not oblivious to the different shots he’s trying to land, which are sometimes obvious that he throws. I think that he’ll start facing the pressure that this is a lot harder than he may have thought. And I won’t let off the gas when I feel that.”
“But this is boxing. You have to make adjustments on the fly. This is only what I see from the outside. On the inside, it’s all going to play out.”
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Naturally, Davis had to address these comments: “Ryan has high hopes. He’s a fighter. Fighters have to speak highly and think highly of themselves. He’s talking, and he’s actually putting in the work.”
“He’s not taking any fights and he’s focusing on me. We can’t overlook his statement. You know what I mean? We just have to be mindful that he’s coming. I definitely have to be prepared. I’ll make sure to prepare myself just as much or much harder than him.”
“[Two rounds] – that’s a strong prediction. I feel as though two rounds – that’s crazy,” Tank said with a laugh.
“[Rolando Romero] said the same thing. I don’t know what they’re thinking. [Garcia has] seen it personally sitting up close. He made a bet with Errol Spence and he lost that bet. Tell him to bet again, for sure.”
At the time of this writing, Gervonta Davis is the better favourite at $1.34 while Ryan Garcia sits at $3.75, as per the mathematical geniuses over at Sportsbet.
Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis will, of course, be a Showtime pay-per-view event. Due to the agreement in place, however, North American fans can catch the superfight via DAZN the day they finally meet.
