Ryan Garcia has been amused—and at times bored—by the promises and threats made by Gervonta Davis ahead of their blockbuster fight.
Both sides have vowed a knockout ending for their April 22 clash, which headlines a Showtime Pay-Per-View event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. There has been plenty of clapback between the two whenever the other speaks on how they plan to finish their fight, which takes place at a contracted maximum limit of 136 pounds.
“I ain’t gonna lie, I’m gonna get to the point with him,” Davis told a group of reporters after a recent open media workout in Las Vegas. “I’m just wanna show him he ain’t that person.”
Davis dismissed the idea of Garcia trying to bully him, and that he would end the fight around seven or eight rounds after taking him to unfamiliar waters.
“Gervonta says he’s going to take me into deep waters,” Garcia told host Ray Flores during his own open media workout in California’s San Fernando Valley. “Guess what, I know how to swim. “It’s nothing special. He needs to come up with something better than that, come up with something new. Think a little harder.”
Garcia (23-0, 19KOs) has put on his best game face throughout the buildup to their highly anticipated clash, for which is currently a +200 betting underdog according to bet365 sportsbook. Davis is a healthy -275 favorite to prevail, the odds reflecting the Baltimore southpaw’s fight-altering knockout power and more proven in-ring results.
That’s not to say that Garcia has been coddled to this point. The Victorville, California native was forced to climb off the canvas to knock out England’s Luke Campbell in the seventh round. Garcia was just 22 years old at the time of his January 2021 clash with the 2012 Olympic Gold medalist and two-time title challenger, against whom he showed heart and poise in posting his best win to date.
The win was Garcia’s fifth straight by knockout before going all twelve-rounds in a lopsided points win over Ghana’s Emmanuel Tagoe last April 9 in San Antonio, Texas. He resumed his knockout ways in a sixth-round stoppage of Javier Fortuna last July 16 in Los Angeles.
Davis (28-0, 26KOs) carries power on an entirely different level, at one point riding a sixteen-fight knockout streak spanning three weight divisions. It ended in December 2021, when he was forced to fight through a hand injury in a twelve-round, unanimous decision over the granite chinned Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz.
Davis has since knocked out Rolando Romero in the sixth round of their May 28 clash in Brooklyn and forced Hector Garcia to quit after eight rounds on January 7 in Washington, D.C. Both boxers were unbeaten before running into Davis, though his latest foe insists that good fortune ends when they meet in the ring.
“I just hope he’s getting some good sleep,” Garcia suggested. “If not, he’ll get some sleep on April 22.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox