It was a risky proposition for both fighters and one that paid off handsomely for Davis in a long-awaited grudge match preceded by nearly two years of trash talk and ill will.
RYAN GARCIA BOXER PROFESSIONAL
But while the Marylander’s professional resume held up better than Garcia’s, the plain fact was each man was still in search of a career-defining win and was in with the best opponent of his career on Saturday night. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Imagesĭavis has moved the needle like few other American boxers in recent memory, winning belts at 126lbs, 130lbs and 135lbs while selling out arenas from coast to coast. Ryan Garcia is counted out during the seventh round of Saturday’s fight against Gervonta Davis at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He caught me with a good body shot, snuck underneath and he caught me good.” “I don’t want to make no excuses in here.
“I couldn’t breathe,” said Garcia, who connected on 39 of 164 shots (23.8%) compared to 35 of 103 for Davis (34.0%), according to Compubox’s punch statistics. He remained there as referee Thomas Taylor picked up the 10-count, then waved it off when Garcia didn’t make it to his feet in time.
Then came the seventh, when Davis detonated a straight left hand to Garcia’s liver in that sent his foe reeling backward into a neutral corner and down to his right knee, breathless. His unpredictable array of feints and upper-body movement kept Garcia off balance and reactive into the fifth and sixth, where the gulf in skill and experience between the pair became even more evident. By the fourth, Davis was backing up Garcia steadily in a complete reversal of the opening minutes. Garcia appeared sturdy after beating the count, made it to the bell and continued to press to open the third round, but he was more hesitant after tasting Davis’s notorious power. “I thought I had him pretty hurt to be honest,” Garcia said. But that’s when Davis caught his foe with a flush counter-left upstairs that dumped Garcia to the seat of his trunks and brought the crowd of 20,842 to their feet. Davis, a southpaw endowed with concussive power in both hands, barely threw a punch in the first three minutes while patiently taking his opponent’s measure.ĭavis (29-0, 27 KOs) appeared to be hurt early in the second after Garcia landed a combination along the ropes. Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs), the 24-year-old from Orange County who lives in Los Angeles, was fast out of his corner and aggressive from the opening bell, throwing jabs and straights to the head and body while pressing his advantages of four and a half inches in height and two and a half inches in reach.
Ryan Garcia, left, and Gervonta Davis roughhouse during Saturday’s fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “I’m definitely the face of boxing,” Davis said. Already an emerging mainstream attraction, Davis moves forward as the sport’s biggest star in the United States with all the benefits, bragging rights and earning potential that entails, even as he faces the prospect of jail time stemming from a November 2020 hit-and-run. No titles were on the line in the scheduled 12-round bout, which took place at a catchweight of 136lbs, but the stakes could hardly have been higher. It lived up to the considerable hype, with moments of two-way drama in the opening stages lifting the divided crowd into frenzy until Davis’s overall class won out. The showdown between two unbeaten American knockout artists early in their primes, represented by warring companies and broadcasters, was one of the biggest matches that could be made in boxing today.
I actually just saw Rihanna perform at the Super Bowl, and I thought that’s going to be me one day. “I remember coming up in the Golden Gloves and seeing fight at the MGM,” said Davis, the Baltimore native who improved to 29 wins in as many fights with all but two ending inside the distance.
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