By Dan Ambrose: Mikey Garcia and Jose Ramirez are both giving Leo Santa Cruz an edge against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis for their possible fight on Fox Sports pay-per-view.
The clash Santa Cruz vs. Davis clash still hasn’t been negotiated, but it’s expected to take place this year.
The question is, will Tank Davis be weakened enough for Santa Cruz to beat him? If Davis is 70% of what he normally is, he’ll likely crush Santa Cruz and make it look easy.
Is Santa Cruz trying to drain Tank?
It’s dismaying that Santa Cruz isn’t willing to come up to 135 to face Santa Cruz, seeing that he knows how hard it’ll be for him to make the 130-pound weight limit.
Santa Cruz’s assistance on Davis ending to come down to 130 to face him gives the impression that he’s trying to DRAIN Tank so that he can get an advantage. If that’s Santa Cruz’s sole rationale for insisting that Gervonta come down to 130, it probably won’t work well enough for him to win.
Tank is still young at 25, and even though he may be slightly weakened, it might not be enough for the 31-year-old Santa Cruz to win.
Mikey and Ramirez feel that Tank Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) will be drained after he makes the 130-pound limit for the Santa Cruz fight. Davis, 25, had a hard time last December making weight at 135 for his clash against Yuriorkis Gamboa for the vacant WBA ‘regular’ lightweight title.
It’s going to be a lot more difficult for Davis to drop five pounds lower at 130 to face Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs) at 130, which is his old weight class.
If not for the huge payday Tank Davis will be getting for the Santa Cruz match, he obviously wouldn’t think about dropping back down to 130
Ramirez: Tank will have problems making weight
“I think that would be a good fight for both of them,” said Jose Ramirez to Fighthype when asked how Santa Cruz will do against Tank Davis. “I think it’ll be a tough fight for Tank to make weight. It’ll be a tough one. Tank is powerful.
“He has good experience and good skills, but we’ll see if he makes the weight at 130. He’s [Santa Cruz] has already talked of moving to 135. I wouldn’t advise for Leo to move to 135. Leo should stay at 130. He’s just had one fight at 130. It would be a good fan-friendly fight,” said Ramirez.
Tank will have some issues making the 130-pound limit, but he’s a professional and he’s done this many times. He only recently moved up to 135 last December for his bout against Yuruorkis Gamboa in December, so it’s not going to be a big problem for him to make 130.
Santa Cruz would look more courageous in the eyes of boxing fans if he were willing to fight Tank at 135. The way that Santa Cruz is drawing the line that Tank must come down to 130 if he wants the fight, it seems like he needs a handicap to help him win.
When fighters start talking about needing a handicap, then that’s a clear sign that they lack confidence to win. Santa Cruz should be willing to fight Tank at lightweight because he won’t have to hear excuses afterward if he beats him.
By dragging Tank Davis down to 130, Santa Cruz won’t get full credit from the boxing public if he beats him because he’ll be facing a guy that could be a zombie on the night.
Mikey Garcia giving Santa Cruz the edge over Tank
“If the fight is at 130, I think Leo has an edge because he doesn’t have to struggle to make weight,” said Mikey Garcia in leaning towards Santa Cruz if Tank Davis fights him at super-featherweight.
“Although he’s new in the division, Leo is tall for the division, and he’s a volume puncher, non-stop for 12 rounds. He’s got a lot of experience against tough guys. I think that gives Leo a better chance.
“I like Tank. He’s strong, he’s very dangerous too, but at 130, you might see him starting to be a little weak and tired because of that weight cut.
“When I was 126, and I moved to 130, I never came back,” said Mikey. “Once I was at 130, I fought twice at 130 and then took two years off and came back to 135. I never came back to 130, you know? I have moved up recently from 135 to 140, back to 135, and now to 147.
“I’ve done that, but haven’t outgrown the division. I should be fighting at 135 or 140. I could still be there. But in Tank’s position, he was already struggling to make 130, and that’s why he moved up to 135. For him to come back to 135, that might be a bigger struggle than if it were at 135,” said Mikey.
“I started my career at 135, and I think I had two fights, and then I moved to 140,” said Ramirez. “And I can imagine someone outgrowing the division, and then they pretty much train to make the weight, and when they fight, there’s nothing left. I haven’t experienced it myself,” said Ramirez.
It’s academic that Santa Cruz will have an edge against Davis after he drains down to 130 for the fight.
