Saturday night’s much-anticipated fight between Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Ryan “King Ry” Garcia has everything boxing and its fans want. More importantly, it has everything both parties need.
While the sport has great fighters and has put on some great fights, boxing has struggled to find its next true superstar after Floyd Mayweather retired from sanctioned title fights in 2015.
I’m not dismissing exciting bouts between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury or Teofimo Lopez and Vasyl Lomachenko. Nor am I ignoring fighters such as Canelo Alvarez, Errol Spence Jr., Terence Crawford, Shakur Stevenson or Devin Haney, for they’re all some of the best in the game today. But none of them have been able to replicate what Floyd brought to the game. And to be fair, no one probably will for he was so unique in both style and understanding of how to promote a fight.
But tonight’s bout between the aforementioned Davis and Garcia has the potential to deliver what the ring has lacked since Floyd’s reign. And if Friday’s weigh-in was an indication of things to come, the fight will more than deliver.
Aside from the usual jawing and banter between the fighters, and the reactions from the swarming crowd itching to see them in the ring, the weigh-in added more drama when Tank and boxing legend-turned-promoter Bernard Hopkins got into a flare-up on stage.
Now, whether that was real or simply more fodder to fan the fight flames is debatable.
But the fact is that it’s all part of what boxing and its fans desire and need.
Pugilism needs more super fights and more superstars. And it needs politics and egos to be removed so big fights between big fighters can happen, and happen at the right time.
That’s exactly what this fight, and the next few fights, will be. And they will feed boxing’s ravenous fanbase that has long craved and begged for these fights.
Tank Davis and Ryan Garcia, both lightweights, are smaller in stature than Spence, Crawford, Wilder and Fury. But what they lack in weight is more than made up in stature, presence, opposition and storyline.
Garcia is the younger of the two, more of the pretty boy with the hand speed to match.
Davis is the harder fighter, complemented by the power of his brutal hooks.
Garcia is from the West coast while Davis hails from the East.
The former built his following and presence through Instagram videos demonstrating his hand speed and his celebrity. The latter did the same through displays of power and training images.
Garcia is aligned with Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy while Davis is associated with Floyd Mayweather and Mayweather Promotions.
Yet they both share immense talent, power, speed and the ability to capture an audience, as evidenced by their large following and ability to pack every fight venue.
Garcia wins with a smile and knockout punches so quick that the camera often misses them. Tank does the same by methodically stalking his prey before delivering a devastating KO.
And they both know how to talk the talk and walk the walk.
“He’s gonna find out exactly why I’m here,” said Garcia at the press conference. “You don’t get to this position without having something special. Anybody can see that. We’ll just have to wait and see when I’m in there. He’ll see it when I’m in there.”
“All he talks about is that one punch. I only need one too,” retorted Davis. “I touch that jaw and I’m telling you, you’re going to sleep. I’ll probably break your jaw.”
On Saturday night, King Ry (23-0, 19 KOs) and Tank (28-0, 26 KOs) will face off in Vegas in what some are calling the biggest fight of the decade.
Whether that’s true remains to be seen. But what’s indisputable is that this is a massive fight for the fighters and the sport, one that has been sorely needed since Floyd left the game.
More importantly, it’s the fight boxing fans wanted, deserved and got at the right time.
