Gervonta “Tank” Davis clearly wasn’t impressed by the density of Ryan Garcia’s chin.
The lightweight star from Baltimore, Maryland, had a close up view of his rival Ryan Garcia last week during a back-to-back, bi-coastal press conference that began in New York City and concluded in Los Angeles. The two fighters have circled each other for months but finally announced their 136-pound showdown for April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Showtime Pay-Per-View.
It was during the press conference at Beverly Hills where Davis did more than just trade words and size up Garcia, who is a native of Victorville, California. As the two barked at each other at center stage, Davis threw a quick but light left hook that seemed to graze Garcia’s chin. Garcia, who offered what seemed to be a mixture of genuine and feigned surprise, responded by making a series of slips and shadow boxing.
On social media, fans speculated as to whether the punch actually landed or not.
In a subsequent interview, Davis, 28, confirmed that he did connect on Garcia’s chin, while making it clear he didn’t think it was anything like iron or granite.
“Yeah, I touched his chin a little bit,” Davis told ESNews with a grin. “His chin a little soft. I ain’t gonna lie. His chin felt like a pillow, for real, facts, facts.”
Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) and Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) will not fight for a title, but their bout is nonetheless considered to be the biggest commercial event on the current boxing schedule. The two agreed to terms late last year but did not close on a fight until recently as their handlers still had major aspects of the deal (such as a rematch clause) to work through. Garcia is backed by Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN, while Davis is backed by Premier Boxing Champions and
Davis is coming off a fight in January, in which he stopped Hector Luis Garcia in nine rounds at Capitol One Arena in Washington D.C.
Garcia, who rejected calls to partake in a tune-up bout ahead of the Davis fight, has not fought since July, when he knocked out veteran Javier Fortuna in six rounds at crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.