About Last Night: Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis Punched His Ticket To Superstardom
Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis scored a huge seventh round knockout over Ryan Garcia as ‘Tank’ has punched his ticket to superstardom.
Last night, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV, the scene there felt like a motion picture. The buzz was at an all-time high, the internet traffic was dominated by boxing, DAZN’s stream wasn’t working, and the two fighters responsible for it was Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (29-0) & Ryan Garcia (23-1). Before the fight, stars came out in droves as there was a red carpet for celebrities attending, which signified this event’s level. The world was literally tuned in, and when the PPV numbers (which are mostly word of mouth) are released, I have to imagine that the event did over a million PPV buys.
Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo Credit: Esther lin/Showtime
The fight had an edge-of-your-seat type of anticipation as two of the brightest young stars in the sport were fighting to reach Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s status as a fighter and brand. When the two fighters walked into the ring if body language was evaluated, the moment seemed big for Garcia but just another day at the office for Davis. This was further proven when Garcia was waiting to be announced in the ring, trainer Joe Goossen had to tell Garcia to walk around and that it was “his ring.” On the other side, Floyd Mayweather Jr. tried to excite Davis but was too locked in to acknowledge the Hall of Famer.
As both men were waiting for the bell to start the fight, the anticipation was at its apex, and I quickly thought to myself how we got this fight at the right time. Once the fight began, Davis did exactly what many thought he would, which was to use a lot of movement and feints while ensuring his foot placement was right where it needed to be. Garcia was aggressive with the jab and tried to land short, hard punches to catch Davis off guard when in clinches. Davis was holding in the early rounds, but all that was part of the plan to get Garcia frustrated and unfocused. In the second round, Garcia continued to be aggressive, and Davis waited patiently for his moment, and then it happened; BANG. Davis landed a counter straight left-hand, sending Garcia down for the fight’s first knockdown—credit to Garcia, who got back up and survived the round.
.@Gervontaa DROPS Ryan in Round 2 😱 #DavisGarcia pic.twitter.com/8Pj5Czovqs
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 23, 2023
From that moment to the sixth round, Davis was the hunter while Garcia was being hunted. Garcia finally started to see some success in the sixth round as he landed three huge right hands, which quickly got the attention of Davis. Looking back, it seemed as if Davis allowed that to happen to set up what was going to be the final blow in the seventh round. As Garcia started to open up more in the seventh, Davis found an opening as Garcia had his chest exposed and landed a straight left hand to the liver. Garcia took a few breaths as he backed up, but when his body started to react to the blow, he quickly took a knee, and the referee began the count. As the referee counted, Garcia looked up and shook his head to acknowledge he was not getting up. Just like that, the crowd went crazy, and Davis scored a seventh-round knockout.
The face of boxing @Gervontaa stops Garcia in round 7 with a VICIOUS body shot 😱 #DavisGarcia pic.twitter.com/8MRrWvBOOQ
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 23, 2023
Davis was already one of the stars in the sport. Still, his knockout at this level of an event puts him into that superstar category with the Mexican undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. There is no denying Davis’ extremely high Ring IQ and ability to decide the outcome of a fight with one punch. He brings a certain level of excitement to his fights, and people will continue to support him as they did for Mike Tyson back in the day. Casual fans love knockouts, and that’s what ‘Tank’ delivers.
Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis is at the top of the Boxing World.Photo Credit: Esther Lin/Showtime
This week should be when Davis has his media victory lap to elevate his stardom further. What is next for Davis? It’s hard to say, as he has an upcoming trial that could potentially place him on the shelf for a while. Even without the trial, we probably wouldn’t have seen Davis until next year anyway, as fighters at his level only go twice a year these days. Whatever Davis does next, whether it’s a rematch with Isaac Cruz or Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (if he should win a title), one thing is for sure, the event will be big, and the guest list will be even longer as they look to get a glimpse of this lightweight superstar.
You can follow Abe on Twitter & Instagram @abeg718 and subscribe to “The Boxing Rush Hour Show” podcast on all streaming platforms.
