They were rivals inside the ring but outside of it, both Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia agreed on one thing.
That Sunday’s fight between the undefeated boxers and knockout specialists wasn’t about money or fame.
It was about legacy, a “fight to save boxing”, as Garcia’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya put it. And in front of a sold-out T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, it was Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) who had his hand raised and would keep his unblemished record with a TKO win over Garcia (23-1 with 19 KOs) on Sunday.
It was just as Davis predicted back in April, forecasting that he would knock out Garcia is the “seventh or eighth round”.
Boxer faceplants after BRUTAL 1st Rd KO | 00:45
In a bizarre twist, the official scorecards revealed none of the judges ruled the second round 10-8 in Davis’ favour even though he was credited with a knockdown.
In fact, one of the judges — Dave Moretti — scored it 10-10.
It was a fairly uneventful opening to Sunday’s fight, with Davis intentionally not throwing much in the opening round — something which was to be expected from the 28-year-old.
Davis threw just seven punches in the first period and landed only one as Garcia made a fast start in contrast, throwing jabs to the head and body.
Garcia didn’t necessarily land anything of great significance in the opening round but he was certainly the more active of the two as Davis backed up and circled around the ring.
“It turns out Garcia is the first one to try to land power punches and he’s doing it there,” Al Bernstein said in commentary.
“This is exactly what Ryan Garcia does,” added Abner Mares.
“Start out fast and make Tank Davis feel uncomfortable and he’s doing that right now.”
It was hardly a surprise that Davis started the fight that way and the key for Garcia was to not be lulled into a false sense of security, but that is exactly what happened.
The biggest early moment of the fight came in the second round as Davis floored Garcia with a massive counter left hook just as his rival overcomitted on a shot of his own.
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“What a missile strike from Davis,” Mauro Ranallo said in commentary.
“Just like that Davis drops Garcia for the second time in his career in the second.”
“He was feeling himself because he was landing some big shots,” added Mares.
To his credit, Garcia was quick to get up and then pressed forward once more in the third round as a patient Davis sat back, setting up for the left hand and waiting to strike.
Garcia, who had understandably been more hesitant to open up after being knocked down, had his best moments of the fight in the fifth and sixth with some strong right hands.
Davis though, having struggled to get the left hook going earlier in the fight, made an adjustment and went back to the jab to help set up the right and found success late in the fight.
But in the end it was a straight left hand to the body that brought an end to the fight, even if Garcia didn’t seem troubled immediately, later taking a knee and failing to answer the count.
“Round seven, just as he predicted,” Ranallo said.
“Ryan Garcia tasting defeat for the first time in paralysing fashion.”
“What a body shot,” Mares added.
“I didn’t even see it. It was so quick. It was a late reaction, he took a knee and he was paralysed.”
