Las Vegas hosted the highly anticipated catchweight bout between Ryan Garcia and the unbeaten boxing sensation Gervonta Davis on Saturday. Garcia dominated the second round by pummeling Davis to the point where the latter had to clinch the taller Garcia to stay on his feet. However, Davis landed a left hook to Garcia’s chin, which changed the course of the fight. Davis dominated much of the next five rounds before Garcia quit in the seventh after taking a devastating shot to his liver, leaving Davis with a KO win and an improved record of 29-0.
According to Davis, he won the fight due to his smart tactics and Garcia’s faulty technique. Davis revealed that during camp, his coach had told him Garcia would “come up with his head up, so just shoot over top.” Fans reacted to the brutal shot to Garcia’s midsection, which left him unable to continue the fight. Although Garcia admitted that he couldn’t get up after the punch, he managed to connect with a few strong rights and land five more punches than Davis, who is known to be a minimalist in the ring. However, Davis managed to land an impressive 34 percent of his punches, more or less his usual, while Garcia only connected on 24 percent.
Davis declared himself the face of boxing in the post-fight interview and expressed excitement about being part of the event. Garcia’s future could be at junior welterweight, where he could face Josh Taylor, scheduled to fight Teófimo López in New York.
Controversies surrounding the fight emerged at the weigh-in, where Davis started a shoving match with Garcia. Davis’ trainer accused one of Garcia’s promoters, Bernard Hopkins, of cheating, drawing the ire of Davis and his camp. On the morning of the fight, Davis’ trainer promoted a theory on social media that Hopkins was rubbing testosterone cream on Davis’ back in order to taint a drug test. However, cooler heads prevailed in the post-fight exchange, and both fighters hugged for the cameras, putting to bed their weeks-long feud.
Despite the controversies, the bout was exciting, with fans taking to Twitter to discuss Davis’ KO win and Garcia’s inability to get up. The left-handed body shot that dropped Garcia was absolutely devastating, leaving him unable to breathe. While he planned to get back up, he couldn’t recover from the hit. Davis was surprised that Garcia didn’t get back up after the hit, and thought that he was playing mind games, telling Garcia to “get up” with his eyes. The seventh round of the fight saw Davis use Garcia’s aggression against him and take advantage of the opportunity to land the now-infamous liver shot.
In conclusion, the fight between Davis and Garcia was thrilling, with Davis emerging as the winner. Despite the controversies surrounding the fight, both fighters showed mutual respect by hugging it out. While Garcia’s future could be at junior welterweight, Davis cemented his position as a boxing superstar with his KO win over Garcia.
