PREVIEW: Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia
The biggest lightweight/junior welterweight matchup in years is just on the horizon—and there’s not even a title on the line. Better yet, it’s happening at just the right time.
On Saturday night, three-division titleholder Gervonta “Tank” Davis will meet Ryan “King Ry” Garcia in a highly anticipated showdown of unbeaten boxing superstars. The 136lb catchweight bout will headline a Showtime/DAZN joint pay-per-view from the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas.
When comparing the resume of both combatants, it’s clear that Davis (28-0, 26 KO) at the very least has the edge in championship and pay-per-view headlining experience. While Davis will be headlining his sixth pay-per-view event on the 22nd, Garcia will be headlining his first. Davis has competed in 10 world title fights, while Garcia competed in none. Also, Tank has been more active, with five fights since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to three for Ryan.
In his last outing back in January, Davis stopped Hector Luis Garcia in the ninth round.
Just like Davis though, Garcia (23-0, 19 KO) brings devastating punching power to the table. Out of his last five, King Ry has won four by knockout. In his last ring appearance back in July 2022, Garcia put away former titleholder Javier Fortuna in the sixth round.
The boxing public has been clamoring for this matchup for a couple years now, and while there is no belt at stake, it’s a bigger event than many of the upcoming title fights in boxing right now. The only matchup in the lightweight or junior welterweight division that could top this, would be the winner of Saturday’s fight against undisputed 135lb champion Devin Haney.
Fighter’s Form (last 5 fights):
Gervonta Davis
Hector Luis Garcia - WIN by TKO 9 - 07/01/2023
Rolando Romero - WIN by TKO 6 - 28/05/2022
Isaac Cruz - WIN by UD (116-112, 115-113, 115-113) - 05/12/2021
Mario Barrios - WIN by TKO 11 - 26/06/2021
Leo Santa Cruz - WIN by TKO 6 - 31/10/2020
Ryan Garcia
Javier Fortuna - WIN by KO 6 - 16/07/2022
Emmanuel Tagoe - WIN by UD (119-108, 119-108, 118-109) - 09/04/2022
Luke Campbell - WIN by TKO 7 - 02/01/2021
Francisco Fonseca - WIN by KO 1 - 14/02/2020
Romero Duno - WIN by KO 1 - 02/11/2019
Event Information:
Date: April 22nd, 2023
Time: 1am (GMT), 5pm (PT), 8pm (ET)
Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Channel: Showtime Pay-Per-View
Elsewhere on the card
In the co-main event, unbeaten David Morrell (8-0, 7 KO) will make the fifth defense of his WBA (regular) super middleweight title against Yamaguchi Falcao (24-1-1, 10 KO). Also featured is Bektemir Melikuziev (11-1, 9 KO) taking on Gabriel Rosado (26-16-1, 15 KO) in a super middleweight rematch of their bout from 2021. The first time around, Rosado scored a devastating upset KO of Melikuziev in the third round.