T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas – In a grudge match between two unbeaten stars, Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) made another statement by knocking out Ryan Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) in the seventh round.
The bout was fought at a catch-weight of 136-pounds.
Garcia went down in the second after trying to rush Davis, who caught him with a big right hand over the top.
The end came in the seventh, when Davis landed a solid left hand right to the body, which forced Garcia back in pain. A delayed reaction with Garcia going down to a knee and taking the full count of ten from the referee.
“Everything about this was exciting. I was excited to be a part of this event. I remember coming up in the Golden Gloves and seeing Floyd fight at the MGM. It was crazy. I actually just saw Rihanna perform at the Super Bowl, and I thought that’s going to be me one day. And we’re here,” Davis said.
“The reality definitely matches the dream. But the job is never done until I retire so I’m going to keep my head down, stay humble and continue to work. Me predicting the 7th round KO was me just trying to get in his head. I really don’t know until I actually get in there with my opponent, but once I got in there with him I felt like skill-wise, it all matched.”
Davis admits that he didn’t believe Garcia would stay down. He expected him to beat the count and continue the fight.
“The first knockdown was just him not knowing his placement and I knew that I was the smaller guy, and my coach was telling me in camp that he’s going to come up with his head up, so just shoot over the top,” Davis said.
“I didn’t think that body shot would end it, but I saw his facial expression and that’s what made me take it to him. It was a good shot, for sure. I thought he was going to get up but I like to play mind games, so when he was looking at me, I was looking at him trying to tell him, ‘Get up!’. And he just shook his head, no.”