Vasiliy Lomachenko thinks Gervonta Davis has all the key attributes to get his hands raised on the night he takes on Ryan Garcia.
The three-division titlist from Ukraine recently offered his prediction on the ballyhooed 12-round, 136-pound bout between Baltimore’s Davis and Victorville, California’s Garcia that is projected to land on Showtime Pay-Per-View on April 15 in Las Vegas.
“I said before, it’s a very interesting fight,” Lomachenko told a group of reporters at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California, this past weekend for a fight card topped by Luis Nery and Azat Hovhannisyan. “It depends on how they prepare for this fight, if they [both] prepare 100%. It will be very, very interesting and very hard, tough for both because they understand boxing.”
“I think, my opinion, Gervonta Davis will win because he is very technical, he has the power, he has the speed, and he knows how he needs to move. And he always fights guys who are bigger [and taller] than him.”
“I think Davis will finish him (Garcia),” Lomachenko added, while declining to specify a round.
On Saturday it was reported that Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) and Garcia finally signed contracts. The two agreed to terms at the end of last year.
Despite that being the case, negotiations have not exactly been smooth between the fighters’ teams, especially if the public pronouncements of Garcia’s promoter, Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De La Hoya, are anything to go by. De La Hoya recently took issue with Premier Boxing Champions, the outfit led by Al Haymon that backs Davis, because he disagreed with the terms of the rematch clause. That issue has reportedly been resolved.
Another hurdle that was recently cleared was Davis’ legal status. Davis pleaded guilty last Thursday in his hometown to four counts from a hit-and-run incident in November 2020. His sentencing is set for May 5, meaning a potential jail sentence would not get in the way of his fight with Garcia.
Lomachenko himself will likely be involved in a pivotal lightweight match in May, against the division’s undisputed champion in Devin Haney.