By Jim Maltzman: Trainer Buddy McGirt feels that lightweight contender Ryan ‘Kingry’ Garcia isn’t ready to be taking on Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis right now given the 21-year-old’s lack of experience. McGirt, who has been around a long time, states that King Ryan still hasn’t been tested in a real fight.
The World Boxing Council has ordered Ryan Garcia and Luke Campbell to fight for the interim WBC 135-lb belt. The winner will be mandatory for WBC lightweight belt holder Devin Haney. As long as Golden Boy lets Ryan take the Campbell fight, that should count for his first real fight.
Ryan is spoiling for a fight with Tank Davis, as that’s all he can talk about. What Ryan Garcia wants is to become a star overnight, and the best way for him to do that is to beat Tank.
Although Garcia has a 20-0 record, he’s not been matched against anyone that has had the talent to put him through a difficult fight. When Ryan’s promoters at Golden Boy stepped him up against a good opponent in Carlos Morales in 2018, he barely beat him by a 10 round majority decision.
Golden Boy Promotions were recently talking of wanting to match Ryan Garcia with former three-division world champion Jorge Linares, but the fight failed to happen. Linares, 34, couldn’t get into the country because of the travel ban, and he also couldn’t train due to the pandemic.
Ryan may have dodged a bullet with that fight not happening because Linares looked like he was on another level than Garcia recently in dispatching his former opponent Carlos Morales by a fourth-round knockout last February. If you compare how Ryan looked against Morales to how Linares performed, it’s like night and day.
McGirt: Ryan has never been in a fight
“I think he’s a good prospect, but taking on Gervonta, he’s biting off more than he can chew,” said trainer Buddy McGirt to ESNEWS when asked his opinion on Ryan Garcia. “He’s never been in a real fight.
“That doesn’t mean he’s been in a real fight,” said Buddy when told that Ryan has a 20-0 record with 17 knockouts. “You know what I’m talking about. You’ve been around long enough to know.
“A real fight where you got to dig deep. Do you understand? He [King Ryan] hasn’t been in the deep water, hows that?” said McGirt.
Buddy doesn’t say whether Ryan should take a step up fight right now, but it looks like he’s poised to get one against Campbell. Golden Boy needs to make up their mind whether to take Ryan off the leash to let him face the much older 32-year-old Campbell.
There’s a big experience gap between Ryan and the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Campbell. It might be too much for the young Golden Boy fighter.
It could be a mistake if Ryan faces Tank Davis anytime soon. Ryan needs to start meeting some of the mid-level 135-pounders to test whether he’s capable of mixing it with Gervonta.
Golden Boy Promotions has been selecting Ryan Garcia’s opponents with a fine-tooth comb, and they’ve made sure they’ve matched him against beatable guys. A lot was made about Ryan’s recent win over Francisco Fonseca, but this was another low-level opponent.
Fonseca went eight rounds with Tank Davis in 2017, and only one round with Ryan last February. However, Tank had struggled to try and make the 130-pound weight limit for the Fonseca fight, and he looked listless. Tank still ended up battering Fonseca until the referee halted it.
Ryan Garcia needs to be ready for Tank
“So why do you want to jump on Gervonta Davis? You want to be ready for that war. You don’t want to go into it half-a**** ready. I don’t think so,” said Buddy McGirt in announcing that he doesn’t think Ryan Garcia is ready for the likes of Tank Davis.
“Experience,” continued McGirt in explaining WHY Ryan isn’t ready for Tank. You’ve been around long enough to know that. There comes a time in a fight where you need specific experiences to get out of a situation. And if you’ve never been there and if your corner has never been there, how the hell are you going to survive,” said Buddy.
Tank Davis is expected to face Leo Santa Cruz in 2020 in a fight on pay-per-view, and he’s not thinking of Ryan right now. The earliest that we may see Tank and Ryan Garcia is in 2021, and that would depend on Garcia beating Campbell. If Ryan loses to the southpaw Campbell, then he can forget all about facing Tank Davis anytime soon.
Devin Haney will be a lot of trouble for Ryan as well, considering the improvements he’s making with his game with Floyd Mayweather’s help. Haney is a high-risk fight for Ryan as well, and he could lose and spoil Golden Boy’s plans for him.
Starting camp soon 🥳
— Gervonta Davis (@Gervontaa) July 5, 2020