LAS VEGAS – Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia made weight late Saturday morning for the second time in less than 24 hours.
Garcia and Davis both came in below the 146-pound limit for their second-day weigh-in, which was held behind closed doors less than 10 hours before they’ll fight Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. Both boxers are free to add as much weight as they want from the time of their second-day weigh-in until they enter the ring for their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event.
Davis stepped on the Nevada State Athletic Commission scale at 144.1 pounds. Garcia officially weighed 144.9 pounds.
They weighed in a second time in adherence to a contractual clause designed to limit how much weight the taller Garcia could add after their weigh-in Friday afternoon. Garcia and Davis would’ve paid financial penalties for weighing more than 146 pounds Saturday morning.
Baltimore’s Davis officially weighed 135.1 pounds Friday, slightly less than Garcia, who came in 135.5 pounds. The contracted maximum for their 12-round fight was 136 pounds, one above the lightweight limit.
Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) and his team have criticized Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) throughout this promotion for insisting on a catch weight and rehydration restrictions. Oscar De La Hoya, whose company promotes Garcia, stated during a press conference Thursday at MGM Grand’s KA Theatre that those stipulations indicate Davis’ team is not confident he will win against Garcia.
The 24-year-old Garcia, of Victorville, California, officially weighed 140 pounds for his last fight, a sixth-round knockout of Dominican southpaw Javier Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC) on July 16 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The 28-year-old Davis has competed at the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds once. The strong southpaw stopped former WBA world super lightweight champ Mario Barrios (27-2, 18 KOs) in the 11th round of their 140-pound bout in June 2021 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Each of Davis’ past three fights have been contested at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds.
Showtime’s four-fight pay-per-view broadcast is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT on Saturday night. It costs $84.99 if purchased through www.sho.com, www.PPV.com, cable companies or satellite operators.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.