'The fight to save boxing': Undefeated Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia finally will face off
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas sold out in a matter of minutes.
Celebrities Justin Bieber and Bad Bunny are expected ringside.
Electricity crackles as Gervonta “Tank’’ Davis and Ryan Garcia, unbeaten boxers who have piled up knockouts, prepare to square off in a 136-pound lightweight bout Saturday night.
Garcia, 24, is the sport’s reigning heartthrob who cherishes his Mexican heritage. Davis, 28, is a Floyd Mayweather disciple from Baltimore who relishes his inner-city roots.
The matchup warrants some hyperbole. Oscar De La Hoya, the retired world champion boxer and Garcia’s promoter, delivered when he billed it, "The fight to save boxing.’’
“And the reason why it is is because you have two young guys, two undefeated guys, who are the best of the best, willing to fight each other,’’ De La Hoya told Showtime. “…The sellout in four minutes of tickets. It’s a great indication that this pay-per-view is going to be huge, so yeah, this is the fight of the year.”
A premature proclamation, of course. But the fight has spared boxing fans frustration over matchups that fail to materialize when promoters and boxers risk defeat, boxing analyst Teddy Atlas said.
“UFC is growing leaps and bounds by the second by a simple formula,''’ said Atlas, who co-hosts The Fight with Teddy Atlas podcast. “The best fight the best.”
Now boxing offers up this: Garcia (23-0 with 19 KO's) vs. Davis (28-0, 26 KO's). No sidestepping to protect unblemished records.
“That’s the reason you care about this fight,’’ Atlas said.
How the matchup materialized
There were inherent barriers to this matchup, according to Atlas.
“You got four, five power brokers in the business and, unlike the UFC, they don’t give a crap about the sport overall,’’ he said. “They care about their piece of property.’’
Meaning, the promoters are more concerned about protecting their boxer's value than staging mega fights.
The result: boxers such as Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao sidestepping each other for several years and meeting in the ring well past their prime.
Davis and his manager, Al Haymon, and Garcia and his promoter, De La Hoya, surely found the payday enticing. The fight will be available on pay-per-view for $84.99 through Showtime and DAZN.
But there were other factors.
The sparring between these fighters started more than two years ago on social media. As Davis said of the battle on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, “just us at each other’s neck for a long time.’’
No boxers have capitalized on social media more than these two. Davis has 4.7 million Instagram followers. Garcia has 9.6 million followers on Instagram and 5.3 million on TikTok.
And in November 2022, Davis announced he had accepted the challenge. Much to Garcia's delight.
“I knew this would be my big fight, the biggest fight of my life, so I chased it down,'' he said.
Issues outside the ring
In February, Davis pleaded guilty to four traffic offenses stemming from a hit-and-run accident in 2020. A pregnant woman was among four people Davis left injured in the crash.
Davis, who faces possible jail time, will be sentenced May 5.
“It has to be a huge, huge distraction,’’ De La Hoya said.
Not so, according to Davis.
“I’m staying focused very well,’’ he said. He has faced similar issues.
Dating to 2019, Davis has been charged with one count of misdemeanor assault, simple/battery domestic violence, striking the mother of his children and a misdemeanor domestic violence charge of battery causing bodily harm.
Michael Benson, online boxing editor for talkSPORT.com, tweeted last month that Mike Tyson, when asked if Davis reminds him of himself, said, “Maybe just getting in trouble with the law. Other than that, no.”
Davis shot back, "I agree. I have more skills.''
And this week he noted that Garcia has faced his own "problems". But Garcia’s trials have concerned mental health. In 2021, he withdrew from a fight against Javier Fortuna and on Instagram wrote, "At this point it is important to manage my heath and well being.''
He later said he had wanted to kill himself because of depression.
“In my darkest times, not even my mother could help me,’’ Garcia said this week.
When asked if he sees a therapist for any ongoing issues, Garcia replied, “Yeah, the holy spirit, that’s my therapist. For sure, 100 percent. That is with me everywhere I go, guiding me, giving me wisdom.’’
Who's going to win?
It can be reduced to this: oddsmakers favor Davis.
Some reasons why Davis gets the nod but Garcia is dangerous:
Davis, a three-division world champion, is the more experienced and complete fighter.
Garcia packs a wallop with his left hook and possesses terrific hand speed.
There's also the issue of whether the fans will win, whether what De La Hoya calls "The fight to save boxing'' can live up to the hype.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia face off in 'the fight to save boxing'
