1:24 a.m. ET
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Mike Coppinger ESPN
Although Ryan Garcia looked better than ever with a sixth-round knockout of Javier Fortuna on Saturday in Los Angeles, it looks like we’re moving further away from a super fight against Jervonta Davis.
The impressive performance – knockouts in Rounds 4, 5 and 6 – was Garcia’s second straight fight at 140 pounds after he campaigned at 135, where Davis still resides. “The Tank” Davis has competed once at junior welterweight, a June 2021 TKO of Mario Barrios, but the weight discrepancy feels like another wrench in the spokes of any effort to land a Garcia-Davis deal. “I’m never going back to 135, I’m going to stay at 140, I’ll fight ‘Tank’ Davis if he wants it at 140,” said the 23-year-old Garcia. “And if he doesn’t, then I’m going to go fight someone 140 pounds. But he will want to do it… there will be riots if he doesn’t want to do it.
“I know I’m committed to it and I’ve told everyone that’s where my heart is and I won’t waver for anyone.”
It’s clear that Garcia really wants to meet Davis in the ring, but it’s less certain how Davis feels about fighting a bigger man at a higher weight — Garcia is 5-foot-10, Davis is 5-foot-5 and a half.
Davis then tweeted that he was ready for the fight.
See you by the end of the year..#TheONE
— Gervonta Davis (@Gervontaa) July 17, 2022
Weight is just one of the many obstacles to the long-awaited battle. Garcia has repeatedly said this week that he will not let boxing politics – he is promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, while Davis is with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) – get in the way of a deal.
This is easier said than done.
So those are two obstacles to a potential super battle, and the biggest obstacle of all: competing networks.
Garcia fights exclusively on DAZN, while “Tank” competes on Showtime. The same issue is holding up a potential middleweight title fight between Jermall Charlo and Jaime Munguia. Charlo is with PBC/Showtime while Munguia is with Golden Boy/DAZN. The inability to agree on which television station would broadcast this fight killed the deal.
And the same obstacle could block a fight between Davis and Garcia. Splitting the bag is sure to create another hurdle, although it’s clear who the A-side is. After all, Davis sold out the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for his May knockout of Rolando Romero and drew over 15,000 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles when he defeated Isaac Cruz in December.
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Meanwhile, Garcia drew 11,288 fans to the same venue in Los Angeles on Saturday. But if the sides can somehow compromise on the various issues, Davis-Garcia is shaping up to be an action-packed, can’t-miss fight between two of the sport’s youngest stars.
An explosive two puncher with lightning fast hands and big followers to boot, this is the kind of fight boxing desperately needs. Win or lose, the type of upset an event of this magnitude would make Garcia a far bigger star than ever before. He would be well-positioned for many meaningful fights in a suddenly red-hot junior welterweight division.
140-pound reigning Josh Taylor could face Jack Catterell in a rematch this fall, but has dropped two of his four titles. There’s also Jose Ramirez and Jose Zepeda lined up for another title rematch. Teofimo Lopez makes his debut at 140 pounds against Pedro Campa on August 13th and many other top fighters are involved in the campaign in the division. Regis Prograis and Subriel Matias are looking for big fights. Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haynie has indicated that he will jump to 140 pounds soon (likely after a rematch with George Kambossos Jr. this fall). If Garcia can’t land Davies before the end of the year, these are some of the names he could be looking at, but that would be a consolation prize at this stage. After all the bullshit and insults, “Tank” Davis is the only opponent that matters to Garcia. And now that Garcia is back active, with two fights in four months to go along with an emphatic win over Fortuna, the time is ripe for Garcia and Davis to finally meet in one of the biggest fights in all of boxing. “It will bring me the respect I deserve,” Garcia said. “And I’m never afraid. I have a competitive spirit in me and you’ll see that come out when I fight Tank and beat his ass.”
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