LAS VEGAS: Gervonta “Tank” Davis stopped Ryan Garcia on Saturday night in Las Vegas with a vicious body shot in the seventh round of one of boxing’s most-anticipated matchups in years.
The 28-year-old three-division champion floored Garcia in the second round before finishing him off in seven with a brutal punch to the ribs in front of a sold-out T-Mobile Arena.
Davis landed a beautiful left hand to the body. Garcia took a beat, but soon dropped to one knee as the delayed effect of the stinging liver shot kicked in. And with a single left hand, Davis cemented himself as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters of the present era as the super fight between two of the brightest young stars in boxing concluded with a TKO win for Tank after the referee reached the count of 10 at 1:44 of the seventh round before a crowd of 20,842.
With an upper hand of four and a half inches in height and two and a half inches in reach, Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) was fast out of his corner and aggressive from the opening bell, throwing jabs and straights to the head and body. Davis (29-0, 27 Kos), a southpaw having concussive power in both hands and known for overcoming quiet starts with a deliberate stalking style, barely threw anything in the first three minutes while patiently evaluating his opponent.
‘I am the face of boxing’
“I am the face of boxing,” Davis said after the fight.
Although his power was a big factor in the mega bout, but it were his advantages in technique, experience and ring IQ that ultimately helped him set up the finish.
“I couldn’t breathe,” said Garcia, 24. “I was going to get back up, but I just couldn’t get up. … He just caught me with a good shot – I don’t want to make no excuses in here – … and I just couldn’t recover. … He caught me with a good body shot, snuck under me and caught me good.”
No titles were on the line in the scheduled 12-round 136lbs catch weight, bout despite it being one of the highest stakes fight of both the fighter’s careers.
