By: Sean Crose
It was the biggest boxing match that went on in years. The undefeated multi-title player Gervonta Davis put his 28-0 record at the top when he faced another undefeated star, the famous 23-0 Ryan Garcia. There are no titles on the line in the scheduled 12th round because frankly there’s no need to. Davis and Garcia are stars, plain and simple – young, tough, fast, and extremely confident stars. The winner is said to have the ability to become the face of boxing.
The first inning saw Garcia start jabbing at her opponent. That stab essentially told the story of the chapter, as each boxer was rightfully wary of the other. Garcia opened the scoring in the second round, firing quick, hard shots at him. Davis, meanwhile, uses lateral footwork. Davis also started to hold quite a bit. Then, when it looked like he might be in trouble, Davis shoved Garcia to the ring with a beautiful backhand that smacked him in the face. Garcia rose to his feet, but Davis proved an important point early on.
Davis had an effective, positive third, driving action and sometimes landing well with a straight line to the left. The fourth inning is over, though it looks like Davis won the chapter just by beating his man. Garcia also seems to have trouble approaching the shorter man with these blows. Thursday is a very serious case. Davis lands well with his body and has some violent outbursts. On the other hand, Garcia throws his jab pretty well.
Garcia rocked his men in the sixth inning. He’s also smart enough to avoid getting into a menacing slug match with Davis. In response, Davis landed well on his stomach. Garcia performed well at the start of the seventh round – when he stunned everyone by collapsing seconds after receiving a shot at Davis. Needless to say, Garcia can’t beat counting. It was some sort of Davis performance.
“Everything is interesting. I’m so excited to be a part of this event,” Davis said afterward. “The work was never done until I retired. I will bow my head, stay humble and keep working.” For his part, Garcia accepted defeat comfortably. “The tank is a great fighter. I tip my hat to him,” he said. “I’m honored to fight with such a great fighter and I have a lot of respect for him.”
