Ryan Garcia still believes he is “a better fighter” than Gervonta Davis.
Garcia’s rival was obviously a better fighter the night of April 22, when Davis dropped Garcia in the second round and knocked him out with a body shot in the seventh round at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. As he prepares to return to the ring against Oscar Duarte on Saturday night in Houston, a reflective Garcia contended that Davis didn’t beat the best version of him in their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event.
The 25-year-old Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) also stressed to Showtime’s Brian Custer during the most recent episode of Custer’s “The Last Stand” podcast that he wants to win world titles in the 140-pound and 147-pound divisions to “earn” a rematch versus Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) at some point.
“It didn’t have an effect on me, surprisingly,” Garcia told Custer in reference to his only professional loss. “It just didn’t feel like it was me, so I didn’t feel like I lost. I just felt like a version of me lost that wasn’t me, you know, like who I am as a fighter and how sharp I am. I’m way sharper than that. I’m a way better fighter than that. And so, it didn’t have that type of, you know, salt on it. It was like, ‘OK, I lost,’ but like I just felt like nothing mattered to me. I was so depleted and so defeated internally of other things, you know? And the weight cut didn’t help and all the things I had to go through, I just didn’t feel like, you know, it was me at all. So, that’s why it didn’t have an effect on me.
“But it did wake up some hunger in me because, you know, about two months later I thought, ‘Oh, shoot! Like I lost. Like no matter happened, I lost,’ and like I don’t like losing, like so it woke up that competitor in me. And it drove me to just where I’m at now. You know, that’s where it started and, you know, it’s tough, but again, I feel I’m the better fighter. I don’t care what anybody says. I know I’m the better fighter. And if I get my rematch, I’m gonna beat him. And, you know, regardless of the outcome of the first fight, I know I could come back and I could beat him.”
Davis’ definitive victory over Garcia doesn’t warrant a rematch, but their fight was such a huge financial success that it could make a rematch worth exploring at some point. Their high-profile fight generated approximately $22.8 million in ticket sales and reportedly produced an estimated 1.2 million pay-per-view buys.
“So, my whole plan is to win a world title at 140 and dominate 140 and 147, both of those weight classes, and earn my spot,” Garcia said. “I wanna earn it. I wanna earn it. I wanna beat, you know, some guys that I have to go through, if it has to be Teofimo Lopez, if it has to be a Devin Haney, whoever, I will do it to get that rematch and show everybody I could beat him.”
Most sportsbooks have established Garcia as a 4-1 favorite to defeat Duarte in their 12-round junior welterweight fight. Mexico’s Duarte (26-1-1, 21 KOs) has moved up from the lightweight division to challenge Garcia, who battled Baltimore’s Davis at a catch weight of 136 pounds.
DAZN’s coverage of the Garcia-Duarte undercard is scheduled to start Saturday at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.