By Dan Ambrose: Mikey Garcia is looking forward to the Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz fight that could be taking place in May or June. Mikey believes the fight could go Santa Cruz’s way if Tank Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) drops down to 130 to fight him at super featherweight.
Garcia states that Tank Davis, 25, might be too drained from cutting weight to get to 130 for him to handle the high volume punching style of the 31-year-old Santa Cruz. Davis struggled to make the 135-lb limit in his last fight against Yuriorkis Gamboa on December 28 in Atlanta. In just his first fight at lightweight, Tank came in overweight at 136 1/4 lbs at the weigh-in, and he needed to lose extra weight to finally make the 135-lb limit.
Even though Davis won the fight by a 12th round knockout, he looked sluggish and tired at times. With that said, there was nothing wrong with the power of Tank Davis, he dropped Gamboa three times in the fight. He had him down in rounds 2, 8 and 12 to get a 12th round knockout.
Santa Cruz beats Tank Davis is if he’s weight drained
“I’ve heard rumors of May,” said Mikey to Fighthype on the Tank Davis vs. Santa Cruz fight. “First of all, I’d want to know what weight class. 130 or 135. That’s going to help Leo more because it’s going to hurt Tank to come down to 130 and not 135,” said Mikey when told by the interviewer that Tank might come down to 130 to fight him at super featherweight.
“At the same time, Tank is a strong 130 and is dangerous. Leo is a volume puncher. I think that’s going to be a very entertaining fight. Would win? That depends on a few things. If Tank comes in being hurt from making weight, then Leo will have a good chance of winning,” said Garcia.
Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs) is supposed to be moving up to lightweight to challenge Gervonta for his WBA ‘regular’ 135-lb title rather than vice versa. Davis already held titles at 130, so he’s not going to come down to fight Santa Cruz at super featherweight. That’s not happening.
What doesn’t bode well for Santa Cruz is the fact that he struggled and looked weak in his debut at 130 against Miguel Flores on November 23. Santa Cruz beat Flores by a 12 round decision to win the WBA Super World super featherweight title, but he didn’t look strong. Santa Cruz can win if Tank Davis is weight drained
For Santa Cruz to go up another five pounds to 135 to fight Tank, it wouldn’t work for him. He’ll do it but Tank Davis will have too much size and power on him in that weight class. Santa Cruz showed against Flores at super featherweight that he can’t punch, and his power is going to be worse at lightweight.
Gervonta Davis will defeat Santa Cruz if he’s solid and strong
“If Tank is solid and good, then he can possibly win. Leo is not going to be strong enough to beat a big guy. Leo started at 118? He’s tall but he’s always been very skinny and very, very thin. Physically he’s not a big guy, so at that point, I would give the advantage to Tank,” said Garcia.
“It depends on how Tank comes into the fight. That’s the difference. If Tank comes in good and his weight isn’t a problem, then he’ll probably have an advantage. But if he comes in all drained and tired and sucked up like crazy, then Leo has a chance. He can fight 12 rounds nonstop and throw 1,000 punches in a fight. That would be the difference. If it happens, it would be a very good fight,” said Garcia.
Mikey is unwilling to go out on a limb to let the fans know who he really feels will win the Tank Davis vs. Santa Cruz fight, but it’s pretty obvious that he views it as Tank’s fight. As long as Gervonta isn’t weight drained on the night, he beats Santa Cruz.
You could give Santa Cruz a better chance of winning if he fought a few times at lightweight before he fought Tank Davis, but he’s not going to do that. Santa Cruz will be moving up five lbs from 130 to 135 to take on Tank for his WBA title, and he’s going to have problems.
Teofimo has a good chance at beating Lomachenko
“That’s a very good fight [Lomachenko vs. Lopez]. I think that’s the most difficult fight for Loma since [Jorge] Linares,” said Mikey when asked who wins between Lomachenko and Teofimo. “Linares was a very good fighter but he’d already been beaten and stopped three times prior to that. So I don’t think it’s going to be quite the same.
“I think this one is going to be a tougher fight because Teofimo is solid, strong and naturally big, fast, strong, everything, right? Loma at 135, he’s not quite the same as he was at 130 and when he was smaller. So I think Teofimo has a much better chance than people think. But I’m still leaning towards Loma winning a decision.
“I don’t think Loma can hurt Teofimo, but I definitely can see him hurting Loma. That’s a good fight. I kind of think Loma wins it by decision, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Teofimo hurts him and stops him. Teofimo is in his prime and is strong and on a big high. Like I said, Loma at 135 pounds isn’t the same,” said Mikey.
If Teofimo can land his shots clean on Lomachenko early, he has a chance of knocking him out. It’s not going to be easy for Teofimo to land, and he’ll probably need to decrease the power on his shots for him to connect on Loma. Once Teofimo starts throwing with less power, he’s going to give Lomachenko an advantage over him. The main thing Lopez has going for him is his punching power. If that’s compromised, then this will be an easy fight for Lomachenko.
