Back in April 2023, an unproven Ryan Garcia needed a signature win. When the opportunity to fight Gervonta Davis occurred, Garcia agreed to a fight at a 136-pound catch weight with a 10-pound rehydration clause.
During the 2023 bout, Ryan Garcia was extremely aggressive in round 2, pressing forward and throwing multiple power shots. Unfortunately for Garcia, he overcommitted and was dropped by a counter left hand shot.
Going into the 7th round, Garcia was competitive, but Davis was leading on all three judges’ scorecards. At the 1:33 mark of round 7, Gervonta Davis stopped Ryan Garcia with a well-timed left-hand shot to the body.
Three years later, Ryan would finally become a world champion when he defeated Mario Barrios. Then came September 12th, when Garcia delivered his signature performance against Conor Benn.
Now fight fans and boxing pundits are hearing whispers about a possible rematch between Ryan Garcia (26-2, 21 KOs) and Gervonta Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs). This is a highly anticipated rematch, but the question is, realistically, can this fight actually happen?
The first time around, Garcia was seen as a boxer tethered to the line, more of a social media star. Garcia wanted to prove himself, so he made a lot of sacrifices to make the Tank Davis match happen. Today, Ryan Garcia doesn’t have to make the same sacrifices because he doesn’t need the Tank Davis fight as he did three years ago. If the rematch doesn’t materialize, Garcia has plenty of options.
Gervonta Davis initially reached out to Ryan Garcia and said he’s willing to go up to 140, but when Ryan didn’t seem interested, Tank went on social media and posted a counteroffer.
“No lie for you I’ll do 144…word say it’s a bet and I’ll get the sh*t I’m going through out of the way! Just give the word!!”
It seems like Davis is trying to make a compromise, but Garcia doesn’t need to negotiate anything below 147 because he has plenty of lucrative action at welterweight. Garcia wants the rematch with Davis, but he’s adamant the match take place at 147. As a guest on the Ariel Helwani show, Garcia spoke about the possibility of a rematch.
“I want that, I want to clean that up. He don’t want it though. He knows it. He knows I’m a bad man. He don’t want me at 147. So there’s really nothing to be said.”
Garcia went on to say, “I mean, cool you got me at 136, get me at 147, prove to me you really like that. He doesn’t. He doesn’t want to prove it to himself, he doesn’t want to prove it to me, he doesn’t he’s a little bit kind of scared, I ain’t going to lie.”
A rematch between Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis would be a huge event, but due to the issue with the weight, it seems like this rivalry may go down in history as a one-and-done.
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