Ryan Garcia Lied To Fans After Admitting He Knew He Would Lose To Gervonta Davis
Ryan Garcia has revealed that he knew he would lose to Gervonta Davis.
The statement may be a surprise given the confidence with which Garcia approached the fight. He talked a good game, promising to stop Davis, who dismissed him as having a ‘weak’ hook as his only weapon. But the fight did not play out how Garcia wanted as he was knocked out in the seventh round.
But looking back, it was inevitable. Garcia addressed how he felt weak coming into the fight since he was fighting at a 136-pound catchweight. That also included a ten-pound rehydration clause, which he felt took his power away.
Garcia On His Loss
“For the first time ever, in the back room, I said to myself ‘I’m losing this fight.’ I knew, right in the back room. Nothing is going right. I am so weak. None of my punches are coming off sharp. I’m going to lose this fight. I just said [to myself] ‘how am I going to lose this fight?’ This is going to be crazy … The moment I caught him in the second round I tried to knock him out. I said, ‘I’m so weak I have to try and end it early’ … he recovers and then he drops me,” Garcia said
But since Davis was the A-side, Garcia had to either give up his demands or move on to someone else. He did try to make the fight at 140 pounds initially, something which did not materialize. It is no surprise then that Garcia moved up to 140. In his last fight against Oscar Duarte, Garcia went back to winning ways, stopping the Mexican in the eighth round.
That defeat to Davis has changed how he negotiates fights. Garcia pulled out of a Devin Haney fight to try to face Rolando Romero, which was considered a smarter move. Romero would allow Garcia to fight for the WBA Junior Welterweight Title in a less risky fight and then face Haney for more money in a unification. The Romero fight never happened, but it does show Garcia is developing his game outside of the ring, too. That is why he has promised never to let it happen again.
Garcia On Davis
“I’m going to get everything back in blood. I will never let anyone play me like that in negotiations ever again. That will never happen – ever. I’m going to get so big that Gervonta has to fight me [again]. And we’re going to do it on the right and fair terms.
“We’re going to do it right and I’m going to beat him … even though he did me dirty and they did all these tricks, I’m going to do everything fair. Not a rehydration clause. I’m not going to make him go crazy up in weight,” Garcia
But to secure the rematch, Garcia must continue winning to put himself in that conversation. Beating Duarte was the first step in doing that. Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.
