According to Ryan Garcia, a mega-fight with Gervonta Davis is just a matter of a few minor details. The major one – their long-awaited showdown – is handled.
“At this point, from my knowledge, it is,” Garcia said on The MMA Hour of a reported April 15 date, which he believes could take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “In the contract, everything seems set.
“I think they’re just working on the undercard, and other than that, we’ve both agreed to the fight. I’m ready. I’ve been dying for this fight, and I’ll give it my all to make it happen.”
Per the usual in high-profile fights, the undefeated pugilists have accused each other of trying to avoid a meeting. One manifestation of that for Garcia is Davis’ Jan. 7 bout against Hector Garcia.
Garcia said he wanted to fight Davis this past October after win three months earlier against Javier Fortuna. He said there were discussions of a January showdown. But then, he said, Davis proposed a new weight limit.
“So all these things I’ve had to do, and I was just like, ‘You know what? I’m not going to fight again,’” Garcia said. “I’m not going to go have something out of the blue happen to me, and I’m going to go straight to Tank. If I truly believe I’ll beat him, I’ll always believe I’ll beat him.”
When Davis booked the Hector Garcia fight, Garcia was “slightly annoyed” his opponent got an extra payday. Not only that, he was worried something would happen that would further delay their showdown.
“I had went through so many hoops to try to make this fight happen for the fans after so much talking … and finally getting to that point where the networks agreed to work something out, and then now all we have to do is find the right date, and he said he needs a tuneup,” Garcia said. “I was like, ‘Man, this is kind of risky.’ It’s not the fact that he could lose – he could hurt his hand. Things could just happen getting ready for a fight.
“To me, it’s too risky, but he wanted to do his thing, he had a great performance, and hopefully nothing happens between now and April.”
Thankfully for “The Flash,” Davis cruised to a ninth-round TKO against an overmatched opponent.
“He’s very selective on his punches; he needs to get in a good position to land the shots that he’s devastating with,” said Garcia, who gave Davis a B- to a B+ on the performance. “I think that he relies on guys to burn out, guys with no power. Usually when you’re putting pressure on them, they’re punches lose snap, and they lose focus, and that’s exactly what he did, and he got the guy out of there.”
The latest threat to the pairing could be Davis’ recent legal trouble. The WBA regular lightweight champ was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence just days before his fight with Hector Garcia, and the resolution of the case looms over his boxing future. Davis is also due in court next month to address an alleged hit-and-run that carries potential jail time.
“That is definitely a concern,” Ryan Garcia said. “I don’t know his temperament. I think he might have anger problems, but you know what, in that situation, I’m not going to really speak on that, because I don’t know what’s going in his personal life with him and his girl. I don’t know what they do. I don’t think it’s right to hit anybody, a female, but I don’t want to speak on it too much because I don’t know the full details.”
Davis has also accused his future opponent of using performance-enhancing drugs, which Garcia believes is another ploy to sabotage the bout. It won’t work, Garcia said.
“I think they were trying to give me ways to say, ‘F this, I’m not going through all this,’ especially with the weight, with the changing of dates, trying to prolong my inactivity,” he said. “All this stuff, it’s just a game, saying I’m on steroids, I see all the tricks. But they don’t know who they’re messing with. My mentality is strong, whether they believe it or not.”