Gervonta Davis vs Ryan García: What do we know so far about the fight?
Announcing a deal through their Instagram accounts, a catchweight has been agreed for both undefeated fighters to clash next year
Boxing has seen knockout artists before. Even in the same weight class. But somehow, this feels different.
Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia have mirror careers, both rising through tough competition, and pounding their way through opponents, getting knock out after knock out. No manicured numbers, no hand-picked safe bouts.
Garcia rose through the ranks trading blows with Mexican boxers in the SoCal scene, while Davis got his lumps through the tough East Coast boxers in and around DC. Garcia convincingly stopped Olympic Gold Medallist and rising star Luke Campbell to take the WBC interim lightweight title. No mean feat. And Davis ripped the title off of Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa before defending it even more emphatically against Léo Santa Cruz.
This is the fight that everyone wants to see. And now, it would seem that it is on. Both fighters announced on their Instagram accounts that the fight will take place in Las Vegas next year.
Although unconfirmed, the date is expected to be around April 15, given that Davis will fight on January 7 in what is likely to be a tune-up bout, given that he hasn’t fought since May this year.
Garcia has yet to announce whether or not he will have an interim bout before the big clash, but he is no stranger to having long periods of time out, having taken 16 months out of boxing after the Luke Campbell fight.
As an antidote to the shameful posturing of the Youtube crowd, fawning over Jake Paul, KSI, and whoever they prop up next for Floyd Mayweather, this fight is just what boxing needs. Two professionals at the height of their game, going to war with everything on the line.
“Boxing needs this fight right now,” Garcia tweeted. “It’s time for us to get back to what made this sport so great for the fans: Glamourous fights in places like Las Vegas, grudge match storylines, and most importantly - the best fighting the best.”
Agreeing to a catchweight of 136 pounds, the two fighters acknowledge the fact that they have both fought at lightweight and light welterweight and have given themselves an extra pound on the lightweight limit.
Davis is 27-0 with 25 knockouts and is currently ranked the tenth-best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and the third-best lightweight, while Garcia is 23-0 with 19 knockouts and ranks as the tenth-best lightweight fighter, not a ranking that he agrees with.
“This is the fight I want and this is the fight boxing needs,” said Garcia in a press release. “I am going to knock ‘Tank’ out and take my place as the face of our incredible sport, and I’m bringing a new generation of boxing fans with me. I appreciate Tank volunteering to get beat so that I can get to work.”
Davis is signed to Mayweather Promotions and PBC while Garcia is with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, two companies who rarely have any dealings with one another.
“It’s high time that those outside the ring stop getting in the way of those who want nothing more than to get into the ring and fight,” tweeted De La Hoya, a hall-of-fame boxer.
The fight will be produced and distributed by Showtime, while DAZN will offer pay-per-view through their own platform. DAZN’s Joe Markowski tweeted that there’s an agreement in principle, but that contracts have yet to be exchanged. And as we all know, nothing is done until everything is done.