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Opinion
Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Ryan Garcia’s mooted 15 April bout (pending the outcome of Davis’s arrest on battery domestic violence last month) is an excellent match-up between two relatively untested and fairly aggressive boxer-punchers with concussive power in both hands. Even if the fight is unlikely to be a war, the finish will no doubt be explosive.
Let’s start with Tank. When talking about Davis, you can only start in one place: power. He hits as hard as any little man since Roberto Duran. His power is a genuine equaliser in every bout. He has knockout power in both hands, but with every step he takes, every move he makes (he’ll be watching you), he has the intention of setting up his atomic left hand.
He is not a busy fighter, especially early, but his reputation makes him an effective pressure fighter. In his last fight against the tricky and talented Hector Luis Garcia, Davis landed a total of nine punches through the first three rounds as he sought to understand Garcia’s movement patterns and how he reacted to Davis’s exaggerated fakes. As he gets into a rhythm and begins to understand his opponent, Davis is violent and dangerous and only needs one big shot for it to be over. Beyond that, he’s an extremely effective counterpuncher and can absorb pressure almost as well as he can put it on.
In a lot of ways he’s a little Canelo Alvarez.
(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
That extends to his defence. Davis does get hit occasionally, but as far as I can remember he has never been truly rocked and has never hit the canvas. He’s able to walk this tightrope because he so rarely opens up before there’s blood in the water. In the interim he’s so diligent with his hands and feet. Combine this with the fact that his power is such that opponents don’t want to give him anything to hit, and Davis is almost as effective defensively as offensively.
The most comparable fight for Davis is his bout with the bigger but weight-drained Mario Barrios, who is basically the same size and has the same reach as Garcia. Barrios is extremely jab-centric and was in the Davis fight. His approach to the fight was similar to what I expect from Garcia – he was aggressive with the jab and walk forward, keeping Davis at the end of his jab and on his back foot. He had some success doing that, but Davis clearly landed the cleaner counters throughout and got into a rhythm quickly. Barrios was unable to be multiple with his jabs and angles of attack. Jabbing Davis and walking in a straight line is a terrific way to lose the fight in violent fashion, as Barrios ultimately did.
Garcia is different. He’s also an excellent fighter with real power, especially coming in the form of a dangerous and explosive left hook. He is more willing – maybe too willing – to open up and engage early, with 14 of his 23 wins coming by way of knockout inside two rounds. Even against better fighters Garcia wants to have an early night. In Garcia’s fight with Luke Campbell, clearly Garcia’s best opponent ever, he pressed the action instantly, jabbing to the body and looking for big left hooks and right hands.
However, Garcia is far less diligent defensively. He fights with his chin up just begging to be hit. He is not sharp defensively, as much as he is an excellent athlete who uses that athleticism to get out of the way. His defensive issues are stark, however, when he throws combinations. He puts his punches together beautifully and throws with bad intentions, but he can look like he’s hitting pads at times. When throwing combinations, he will just stick his chin wide open in the air, begging to be hit.
Looking again at his fight against Luke Campbell, Garcia was put on the deck in the second round by a big left hand from the southpaw Luke Campbell. The shot landed after Garcia tried to end the fight with a flurry and became tired. Garcia threw a half-hearted jab, stuck his chin up and, for no discernible reason, moved his protective right hand away from his chin. Campbell cracked him and down he went. Garcia got up and won the fight impressively, but comparing Davis and Campbell’s punching power is like comparing my punching power to Deontay Wilder. If Davis lands a similar shot, to quote Jim Lampley, it will “rearrange [Garcia’s] beautiful face”.
Davis must have watched the Campbell fight with great interest, particularly given Campbell is both the best fighter Garcia has ever faced and the best southpaw. Even though that bout was two years ago and with a different trainer, I find it hard to believe that Garcia has changed dramatically as a fighter after a disappointing bout with Emmanuel Tagoe (not Garcia’s fault) and an easy win against Javier Fortuna.
So what happens? If Garcia stays disciplined, he is capable of beating Davis. Luke Campbell is the best opponent either man has ever had by some margin and Garcia is the only combatant who has shown any ability to weather a significant storm, as he did against Campbell. Davis is a bully in and out of the ring, Garcia needs to be sure not to give him a way in by maintaining hand and chin discipline, especially when Garcia is looking to punch. Davis is such an effective counterpuncher that if Garcia has not improved his defensive discipline, it will be goodnight Irene earlier than we think.
Garcia’s path to victory is the same path to victory that all taller men have against shorter men. Jab, jab, jab. Garcia needs to be able to keep Davis at the end of his jab, vary his jab, fake consistently and basically not let Davis get into his rhythm.
Based on all of this, I think Davis will win and win explosively. Garcia is an extremely talented fighter, but Davis is a rare prodigious puncher who is also excellent defensively. Whereas some fighters start slowly and get credit for ‘downloading information’ when in reality they’re just warming up, Davis really does download information and set traps that always come back to bite the opponent. He is too smart, too good defensively and too powerful to be beaten by Ryan Garcia.
Davis by Round 10 knockout.
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