Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia were apparently asked to ramp up the animosity.
The rivals met on Thursday for the second of two press conferences to promote the April 22 pay-per-view fight in Las Vegas. And they spent a lot of time sniping each other during the official part of the event.
They covered a lot of topics but the most important one was Davis’ perception that Garcia was a boxer who relied almost exclusively on his powerful left hook to win fights.
Davis began the exchange as he was sitting on one side of the podium and Garcia was delivering his opening remarks at a podium at The Bevely Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.
“You like to fight guys who don’t hit hard,” Garcia said while looking at Davis. “Guess? I hit very hard. And when I hit you with that left hook…”
“What else?” Davis interrupted.
“What else? Watch as I hit you with it. You will lie on the floor, sleep, good night,” Garcia replied.
“What else?” Davis asked again.
“What else? You’ll wake up in the hospital,” Garcia said.
Then Davis had to be specific.
“You’re not a complete fighter,” he said. “You are not a complete warrior. You don’t walk, you don’t have an IQ, you have nothing, man. You have a left hook. That is all.”
The topic continued when the boxers were questioned after their initial remarks.
Davis said in his first press conference Wednesday in New York City that he is more skillful than Garcia, a one-time amateur star who has built a reputation as one of the biggest boxers in the sport. professional sports.
Davis was asked again if Garcia would play as well as he did.
“No,” he said. “All they said was that left hook. One punch. That’s it. When you are a complete warrior, you can do anything. You can’t just depend on one punch. What happens when that punch doesn’t work?
“You have to rely on something else. Come on, buddy.”
Garcia replied, “I’ll let him think what he thinks. If he thinks all I have is a left hook, I will continue to let him believe it. It’s all on him. When he gets hit by other shorts, he gets confused.
“It doesn’t really matter. He sounds silly right now. If he watches the fights, he understands that I have other punches.
The boxers continued to fight for a while until Garcia finally announced the obvious: A special left hook can go a long way.
“The left hook is a blessing from God,” he said. “…Maybe all I need is the left hook, maybe that’s all. Thanks God.”
